Anfield Red

We can all breathe a huge sign of relief after hearing that the FA will forego any action on Steven Gerrard.

Via The Guardian:

“It is understood the FA sought clarification from the referee Stuart Attwell after Gerrard appeared to catch Brown with his forearm.

“Attwell saw the incident at the time and spoke to Gerrard after awarding Pompey a free-kick, with the FA following guidelines not to punish players retrospectively if the match official sees the alleged offence.”

In all honesty, I’m pretty shocked he didn’t get a look from the FA. I know we’re supposed to stick up for our own, but that elbow was pretty blatant, in my humble opinion. That means Gerrard is a go at the weekend against United, and we all know that’s a definite plus.

Liverpool beat Portsmouth 4-1 at Anfield, with Torres scoring twice and Alberto Aquilani getting his first goal for Liverpool.

Liverpool are beating Portsmouth 3-0 at Half time at Anfield, with Alberto Aquilani scoring his first goal in a red shirt.

With nine games remaining in the Premier League season and our Champions League aspirations hanging by a bloody thread, now would be as good a time as ever for the club to make a big move.

After sleepwalking during the week against Lille, it would make sense for Rafa to consider some wholesale changes in the middle and upfront, especially with Dirk Kuyt currently playing some of his worst football of the campaign. Whilst I love Dirk to death, he was atrocious against Wigan, and continued to decline from there against the French side.

I’d reckon it’s time to let Babel and Maxi have a go together on the flanks, with Gerrard and Aqua getting the start in the middle of the park. I’m tired of watching Rafa run players out that don’t deserve to be there, so now would be the time to take some risks.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks have been swimming upstream for some time now. Ever since The Royal Bank of Scotland issued an ultimatum on the American owners’ £237 million debt — the currently government-controlled bank made it clear the massive debt needed to be paid down by July if they wanted to refinance their current loans — things have been far from sunny at the club.

Given the state of the international economy at the moment, the thought of the Liverpool owners obtaining cash injection on their own have all but dried up. And with those disappearing dreams have come the harsh reality that George Gillette and Tom Hicks must now bring on another investor, should the two want to remain at the club in any capacity.

On Sunday, The Guardian reported a story linking a New York-based management firm called the Rhone Group with the American owners.

Steven Gerrard’s ‘v’-antics appears to be a bigger story than last night’s humbling loss to Wigan. And why not? I mean, it’s not like Liverpool lost a match to a club that defeated a ‘big four’ side for only the second time in their history. Oh, right. That should probably rate as the bigger story…

Whilst Gerrard continues to get heat for his two-fingered salute, Liverpool continue to give the same gesture to the supporters, showing zero urgency in what could be the most embarrassing loss this season next to the 2-0 away defeat to Pompey earlier in the year.

Quite honestly, the thought of this club joining the ranks of the top four once again seemed a bit premature given the up-and-down season they’ve endured. Just when you thought Rafa had things going in the right direction, the club turned a complete 180 and reverted to their old ways, playing with little heart and passion.

Barring a significant setback to this season (read: not making the Champions League next season), it looks like it could be all systems go for a new deal for midfielder Javier Mascherano.

ESPN is reporting that the club is ready to offer the Argentine a new contract to keep Barcelona at bay. We’ll see what happens, but we all know a deal like this would require funds, and funds these days tend to come from finishing high in the table and winning silverware – two things Liverpool have been struggling with this year.

Get out your rosary beads and start making your usual sacrifices to the football gods, because if you’re as mad about Liverpool football as I am, you know how maddening this week can be.

International friendlies. If there’s a football match many of us absolutely cannot stand to watch, it’s this one. Having to sit through a 90 minute match that has no bearing on the international stage is one thing; but having to sit through that very same match whilst also praying your star player makes it through unscathed is something is another thing.

Of course, Fernando Torres is the player we’re reference here, after Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque made a shock decision to call the Spanish striker up for Wednesday’s friendly against France.

Fat headed Sam Allardyce claimed the Anfield crowd influenced decisions from the ref in the tie between Liverpool and Blackburn at the weekend; yet he clearly forgot to mention this shove from Nzonzi.

Liverpool beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Anfield, with Fernando Torres and Stevie Gerrard getting the goals for Rafa’s side.