Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Stoke (FA Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the quarter final FA Cup match between Liverpool and Stoke.

Welcome to another one of my live thoughts posts. This is a big match for us. A win today and we're back at Wembley. We weren't at Wembley for sixteen years and all of a sudden, an opportunity arises for two (or three) visits in one year. I love it. It's not going to be easy again today, but with us wooping Everton 3-0 earlier this week we're full of confidence and we need to continue that confidence today, and into the Premier League too. Let's see what the Reds can do.

Here are the teams:

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

No Bellamy, Johnson or Agger. Maxi gets a start for a change, he's either hit or miss when he starts, he can be brilliant for us at times but other times he looks disinterested. Let's hope for a maximum performance from Maxi. Pun intended. A good line up, I'm confident.

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

It's a good side again for Stoke, strong in defence, some creativity in the middle and Crouch up front. Walters has scored against us this season already. A tough side but one we'd be expecting to win.

3' - Tug and pull beginning so far, we're trying to spray the ball around with mixed results.

4' - Yellow card for Martin Kelly early on, a nasty tackle on Matthew Etherington. Etherington is staying down. It was quite nasty. Unintentional, but nasty.

7' - Etherington gingerly gets up and is back playing. It was deserving of a yellow card.

10' - Stoke playing a little tough at the moment, rightfully so. They have the physical presence needed to compete against Liverpool.

11' - We've won more games away this season than at home - it's been a problem. But the display against Everton gives me confidence we can turn that round.

12' - Crouch! Easy save for Reina. No defenders were marking the big man which was a little concerning, but his header was tame and straight at Reina.

13' - That's an odd statistic, no Welshman has won an FA Cup as manager. That's really weird. Never knew that. Incredible.

15' - Glenn Whelan gets a yellow card for a tackle on Jay Spearing. Not as bad as Kelly's tackle earlier, but it was clumsy.

18' - Stoke starting to pile the pressure on Liverpool at the moment. A little concerning what with the match only being 17 minutes old at the moment. We started a little brighter, then there was a lot of physical battles, and the last few minutes have belonged to Stoke. We need to get the ball and play.

20' - Haha, great by Marc Wilson, a nice dummy takes out two Liverpool plays to go flying to the deck. I may be a Liverpool fan but I love a good dummy. I'm sure that'll be on Soccer AM next week.

22' - GOAL! Suarez scores a beautiful goal! We needed that!  He combines excellently with Maxi Rodriguez, a one-two and then he just shoots a crisp shot to the bottom right corner. Exquisite.

24' - Stoke attack right from the off and Andy Wilkinson whips in a dangerous and fierce cross that Jon Walters and Peter Crouch just miss.

26' - GOAL! Peter Crouch scores. Stoke pile the pressure over and over again and actually get a corner that wasn't. That corner was headed in by Crouch. Pepe Reina gets a yellow card for protesting a Stoke player putting pressure on him.

28' - Replays of the corner that wasn't, the ball came off a Stoke players head. Andy Carroll takes down a Stoke player and wanted a corner but instead it was a free kick. Tempers are definitely a little raised today.

29' - Four yellow cards now, Andy Wilkinson goes in the book for a tackle on Luis Suarez.

32' - Jon Walters in space runs with the ball towards the final third and shoots just wide of the post.

35' - Suarez laughs at the linesman for getting a decision wrong terribly. It should have been a Liverpool corner but the linesman gave a goal kick.

38' - It's a very physical match this. It's funny as the Liverpool/Everton derby match last week was quite nice, and here we are against a side we have virtually no rivalry with, and it's so much more physical than the match earlier this week.

41' - We're starting to look a little better now, we haven't been at our best today, Stoke have matched us for most of the match.

43' - Free kick just outside the penalty area for Liverpool. Gerrard's shot is over the bar.

45' - Two minutes of added time.

45+2' - Half time.

Well we haven't played that well in honesty. Or more accurately, Stoke have played very well against us. They've irritated us, they've been very physical, and they haven't let us have time on the ball. The most time we had on the ball was in the build up to the goal, a very good goal from Suarez. Stoke's response was fantastic, and even though it shouldn't have been a corner, Crouch's headed goal was a deserving equaliser. If we want to win today we need to play better, we need to keep possession of that ball and go at them. It's the best way to play Stoke, not get physical with them, they're very good at that. Play football against them. Let's see if our second half performance is better.

48' - Gerrard's free kick is tame and Robert Huth clears.

50' - We need to play better if we want to win. It's as simple as that.

52' - SUAREZ! So close! A free kick from the left wing comes in and Suarez reacts just a tad too slow to put some direction on his header, and it goes wide.

55' - That shot aside, we're still looking lost in link play.

56' - GOAL! Finally! Downing scores! An odd goal really, all of a sudden we just open up an opportunity, or more accurately, Downing opens up an opportunity, he runs down the right wing, takes a player on, passes to Gerrard and a clumsy one-two somehow goes back to Downing who gets back into the box and scores. It was the type of goal that Gerrard would score in honesty, no one on his wavelength and he just makes the goal himself! Great work!

59' - The game has livened up since the goal, we're on the front foot at the moment. Stoke haven't reacted as well as they did when we scored first which is good for us.

60' - Stoke Substitution: Ryan Shotton comes off for Jermaine Pennant. Welcome back to Anfield, Jermaine.

60' - Liverpool Substitution: Maxi Rodriguez comes off and Dirk Kuyt takes his place. Well Maxi assisted Suarez's first goal, other than that he's had a mixed game. A bit like his season really.

63' - Kuyt's first decent contribution to the match is a shot straight at Sorensen.

66' - We're looking comfortable probably for the first time in the match. We're playing the possession game, the game we like to play, and Stoke can't really make any progress at the moment which is good. We have control finally.

67' - Suarez! Good save by Sorensen. It was a long range effort from Suarez but it was bending to the bottom left corner, it was a nice strike. A little too far out and lacking in power mind, but nice.

68' - Haha, a Stoke free kick went terribly wrong. Everything was set up, the wall and everything, and a Liverpool player, I didn't actually spot who, basically runs straight to the ball and puts off the two Stoke players creating the free kick and it's all ruined! Great stuff.

71' - Stoke Substitution: Cameron Jerome is coming on in place of Matthew Etherington.

72' - Suarez tries the impossible, he dispossesses a Stoke player on the right hand side of the box, but it's a cluttered penalty area, so he tries to curl it around everyone, and it's way wide. Great idea, not good in execution.

73' - Stoke Substitution: Rory Delap is coming on for Dean Whitehead. That's all three Stoke subs now.

74' - Liverpool have a really nice counter attack going on, Gerrard whips in a long cross to Carroll who heads the ball to Suarez. He has Downing on his right, Carroll on his left and he... slips over. Ah well.

76' - The Kop are bouncing to Suarez's name in support of his efforts. He has been very good today, but he has tried too hard in times to do everything, the typical industrial Uruguayan.

79' - Jay Spearing finds some space and takes a shot and it's over the bar. Should have done better from that distance.

81' - Martin Kelly goes forward and a space is opened for him in the penalty box but his effort is dealt with really well by Shawcross who tackles to ground. Kelly is down from the collision.

84' - Every time Crouch has the ball up front, which hasn't been too often, he's been surrounded by Red shirts. We've dealt with the strikers really well this second half.

85' - I do want to go on record here to say I love Peter Crouch so much, he's an awesome fella and he did a great job with us all those years ago. Top bloke.

86' - Suarez has gone down, so has Kelly for the second time in five minutes. Concerningly Suarez didn't have any form of collision, I hope he's okay.

87' - Replays show Suarez got clipped by accident by Huth, he might have twisted his ankle or something. No idea. Bizarre.

88' - Double Liverpool Substitution:  Martin Kelly and Luis Suarez come off and Sebastian Coates and Jordan Henderson take their places. Suarez has probably been my man of the match, not that individually we have had a player that's been a stand out player.

89' - Gerrard is right back at the moment. I don't know if Carragher is going to move there, but at the moment Stevie G is playing in a position he hasn't played in for a good 10 years.

90' - Five minutes of added time. Good lord.

90+2' - Yellow card given for Marc Wilson.

90+4' - You'll Never Walk Alone is being sung at a massive volume now. You'd think we're going to Wembley for the second time in three months or something.

90+5' - Full time!

We're going back to Wembley! Two semi finals this season for Liverpool! Brilliant achievement for Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool. So happy at the moment. We've had such a fantastic cup run twice this season. Now we need to somehow avoid Chelsea and Tottenham in the semi final draw, but it doesn't matter in the end, it's always going to be a tough game at Wembley no matter who we get. We have a strong chance to win two cups this season. A cup double would really be a statement for Liverpool. Let's make it happen!

As for the match, the first half was tough. Very tough. But all the effort Stoke put into that first half was lost in the second half, and we played well enough to score a second goal. Once again we never gave a masterclass display, but we gave a decent one, and we scored another two goals at Anfield. Downing scored which is good for his confidence, as well as Suarez for his. There have been many positives to take out of this game, the biggest one being, we're going back to Wembley! Thanks for joining me again and have a good evening.

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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: Arsenal vs Liverpool (Premier League)

Hey everyone, here's my first ever live feed of what happened in the football game between Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League. This was done live. I've not touched the feed below as it represented my feelings as I did it live.

0' - Suarez on the bench is intriguing. It's difficult as we need Kuyt on the pitch, he's imperative to the team. But I'd rather put Henderson on the bench if I had to choose one or the other. At least he'll make a decent impact later on if he comes on as a sub.

3' - Corner for Arsenal, we dealt with it well enough, no problems thus far

4' - Another Arsenal corner, Arshavin should have hit the target there. Luck was on our side.

7' - They're putting the pressure on us but it's still open. Let's hope for a spell of pressure soon

8' - Yellow card for Fimpong for a tackle on Kuyt. Unnecessary really.

9' - Free kick for us not too far from the corner flag. They dealt with well.

10' - Walcott had a decent amount of space on the right wing. Thankfully the ball ends up back in Reina's safe hands.

11' - A bad decision by the referee gets shown a great amount of disappointment by Walcott, who starts eye balling Martin Atkinson. He might need to be a bit more careful.

15' - Laurent Koscielny has gone down injured. It doesn't look good.

16' - Arsenal Sub - Miquel replaces Laurent Koscielny. He's only played two FA Cup matches. How come Arsenal don't have more cover on the bench? It doesn't look good long term for them, I do feel for Arsenal fans.

19' - Carroll! Nice save. It's a shame as he hit that header really well.

20' -  The commentators are not wrong when they say we can't face Arsenal away at a better time, they have only only top quality centre back and their squad has been stripped to the bare bone. It's a shame, I like Arsenal and want them to do well in an unbiased way.

22' - Nice little run from Jose Enrique, chips the ball to Kuyt who crosses to Henderson. He didn't head the ball that cleanly but it was a nice move nonetheless.

24' - Free kick in a decent central position about 30 yards out. Charlie Adam doesn't do much with it though unfortunately.

25' - Another Liverpool corner that dissolves, but a nice cross by Stewart Downing was headed away by the Arsenal defence. It was a lovely cross though.

26' - A nice little move from defence to attack by Liverpool leads to nothing as Carroll is offside. I love the guy but he is offside quite often.

28' - Arsenal attack and Arshavin whips a low cross that scrapes across the face of goal but thankfully for us, no one was there.

29' - Emmanuel Frimpong has a decent effort from long range, it was just off target. I don't think Reina had that covered.

31' - Yet another Liverpool corner does nothing again and Arsenal clear.

33' - Downing tries to whip a cross to Carroll but Arsenal clear for a throw in.

35' - Nasri had a great chance then, it's the first time he's really threatened us.

38' - Downing has a great shot at goal, just wide of the top right of the goal.

40' - Two small chances for us, Downing whips in another good cross that's defended well. Carroll then shoots a deflected shot that's easily saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

41' - A nice Arsenal move between Van Persie, Walcott and Nasri. Nothing comes of it thankfully.

43' - Free kick in a great position for Arsenal. A yellow card for Lucas who pulls down Frimpong. Possibly a little harsh but he shouldn't have pulled him down, it's as simple as that.

44' - Van Persie hits the wall and the ball goes out for a corner. 3 minutes of added time announced.

45+1' - Nasri has a good run in the centre of the pitch but Agger puts his shot off and it goes well wide

HALF TIME - It was an okay half, both sides have had okay chances, nothing too groundbreaking. It does have draw written all over it, but hopefully we can penetrate their edgy defence.

Who had the best first half? For me it was Stewart Downing, he kept whipping in decent crosses and had a great shot at goal. For Arsenal I'd say it was probably Thomas Vermaelen, who was dealing with those crosses and Andy Carroll's threat quite well.

46' - 56%/44% possession in our favour for the first half, that's pretty good.

49' - Sorry for not updating much, it's mainly passing and moving from both sides at present.

51' - Arshavin tries to outrun about three Liverpool players, it comes to nothing and the ball ends up in Reina's hands.

53' - Kelly almost scores! The ball ends up with Carroll at the side of the final third and cuts back to Martin Kelly, who smacks it and it clips the post! Great chance!

55' - Some nice Arsenal movement from the second to the final third of the pitch although we deal with it well. No shots were taken at goal and a there was a foul.

58' - Small spell of pressure for Liverpool that simmers away. Not much to report so far in this second half apart from Kelly's fine strike.

61' - Liverpool corner, our fourth of the game (Arsenal have had 7). Once again it comes to nothing, Adam attempts a short at goal from the far left but it was an easy save for Szczesny.

63' - Counter attacking football by both sides without any strong pressure either way. The pace has been picked up a little though and that's good.

65' - Charlie Adam is praised by the commentators for his Gerrard/Alonso-esque crosses of the ball. They are great to watch and I'm happy Adam has filled that void Alonso left two seasons ago in that respect.

67' - Van Persie! Reina makes a fine low safe to make the ball hit the outside of the right post and out. Arsenal's best chance so far.

69' - Frimpong is off! He runs into Lucas straight on and after having a yellow in the first half, he's gone. Bad news for Arsenal!

70' - Double Sub for Liverpool - Raul Meireles and Luis Suarez replace Dirk Kuyt and Andy Carroll. Arsenal Sub - Henri Lansbury replaces Samir Nasri.

73' - Suarez half chance - a quick little pass into the box from Enrique to Suarez who can't move quick enough to take a real effort on goal.

77' - OWN GOAL! GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL! Meireles and Suarez have some nice movement going into the box and a deflection from Aaron Ramsey knocks the ball in the net! 1-0!

78' - Even as I'm happy for Liverpool, I do feel sorry for Arsenal and their bad luck in this game, an injury, a red card and then an own goal. Gutted. 

79' - Arsenal Sub - Nicklas Bendtner comes on for Theo Walcott, who hasn't been very good today.

82' - Things have calmed down a bit for the moment, neither side are penetrating forward much. 

85' - Still not much to report. Carl Jenkinson went down injured but came back okay. The commentators suggested Liverpool to give the ball to Downing so he can take advantage. 

88' - I just love watching Suarez. He's definitely my favourite player at the moment. He just tries to go forward at all times when he has the ball. There's too much of this back peddling or square ball business nowadays.

90' - LIVERPOOL GOAL! SUAREZ! Lucas plays a ball in the middle of the pitch gets to Meireles, who is offside, who then passes square to Suarez to hit it in the net! Great stuff!

90+1' - 4 minutes added time. 

90+3' - "You'll Never Walk Alone" is being echoed through the Emirates. Lovely sound. 

90+4' - Full time whistles and there are boos around the stadium, obviously directed at Arsene Wenger.

It was a decent display by Liverpool, although the result is better than the performance. Full time 0-2 to Liverpool, our first win at Arsenal in 11 and a half years. Good times. Thanks for reading.

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The Mercy Side: Post Match Thoughts (Liverpool 2-2 Northampton, 2-4 on penalties) 22/9/10

Hey people, I'm at a local library writing this, I should be back online properly next week. Here's my thoughts on the Northampton match last night. Enjoy.

Catastrophe? No, it’s a disappointment.

 

So here we are, in September, and it’s the end of the season already.  Oh, how I love the optimism in the air at the moment. The press have spoken, papers have took the mickey, fans are annoyed and what for? Because we “crashed” out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle. But there’s not as many headlines explaining that only 3 of the top 8 teams from last season are still left in the competition and that only Everton were ranked lower than us from those 5 teams. Granted, the team we lost to were 69 places lower than we are, and that it definitely is the worst defeat of all the Carling Cup matches, but I just love the words that are being used. It’s a catastrophe, it’s a disaster. No, it’s a disappointment you fools.

 

Here’s what we have, “It’s a shambles,” says the Telegraph. The word “Cobblers” is written everywhere. The funniest is on Yahoo, where it says that “ Liverpool 's season reaching crisis point”. If a quick exit from the Carling Cup is the crisis point then that would suggest we will do the treble this season. What annoys me is that this is the least prestigious of the 4 trophies, and only 6% of LFC fans wanted this as the top cup priority. It’s a shame that 6% of Liverpool fans, we were let down.

 

Now everyone is saying that The Hodge is being close to the sack. All along, despite his clarity, his humbleness, his frank approach to the fact that this club is in a transition period, is all ignored. A paper mentioned that we won the trophy more than anyone else – correct – however we are still in transition. Does anyone in the media know the meaning of the word transition? He said before the match, if we lose, we’ll be slated, and we’ll accept it and move on. And that’s exactly what happened, it’s not a catastrophe, it’s a disappointment. Rafa was so reserved, always keeping his cards to his chest, The Hodge has brought clarity between fan and staff member at Liverpool Football Club.

 

I honestly don’t think this is Roy ’s fault. Steven Gerrard did a post match interview and he makes the best point, he says “The amount of ability and talent in that squad was good enough to roll Northampton over and I'm sure nine times out of ten it would have, but in cup football sometimes a shock happens and you slip on the banana”. He is absolutely spot on. Roy chose a very talented squad; this is the best batch of youngsters to come through the Reserves and Academy than the nineties I personally think. If this was the FA Cup, and we drew, and we’d play a reply back at Northampton and chose the exact same team, I reckon we would have won. Hodgson was right to put faith in the kids, they will shin, or at least I believe they will. But he didn’t hide his disappointment, his frustration, they let him down. And they did, they are responsible for the loss, not The Hodge. Roy should continue to use the youth sparsely, the same way he has done so far this season. These players need to learn in the cameo appearances that they make.

 

And they will learn. It’s a minor set back I think in a group of players that should play a lot this season, and play well. Gerrard’s words are absolutely true, I’m really happy he hasn’t slated the team, these players ARE still good players, one match doesn’t make or break a player unless he, the manager, and/or the media let them. Psychology is so important in football, you need to have a good state of mind, not let defeats affect you too hard for too long. I hate him with a passion, but it’s that ego that makes Cristiano Ronaldo a world-class player, he doesn’t let set backs affect him a great deal and in football it’s required. These players need to believe in themselves, believe they can make it sooner rather than later because we can see their individual qualities, they just need to make these qualities affect matches in a great way. A decisive tackle avoiding a goal scoring opportunity, a 25 yard strike hitting the back of the net, a brilliant through ball, something. Then people will believe them.

As I’ve said, this season for me is a transition period, we are with a new manager with a new philosophy, and in the next few months hopefully we will have new owners with new cash available. That to me means that results matter, but it’s not the end of the world. I want us to finish in the top 4 this season, but if we don’t, if we finish in a Europa League spot, then that’s fine, as long as these youngsters have had a dozen or two appearances. They need to blend in the first team and learn their craft. It’s quite funny, because if this season for me represented one of the competitions, I’d actually compare it to the Carling Cup – the time when youngsters are given a chance to shine. Let’s hope that they learn from this lapse and show their mettle on the pitch more this season.

 

This is a setback; this is a disappointing and frustrating one at that. But it’s not a catastrophe, it’s not a crisis and The Hodge doesn’t deserve to be sacked over this. Have patience, have faith, and let’s concentrate on the long-term plan not the 120-minute match that has just gone passed us.


Date: 23/9/10