Anfield Red

My how a 6 goal drubbing changes a man. That’s not to say Rafa wasn’t a manager full of happiness and teddy bears prior to the weekend; but I can assure you he’s in a much better place right now.

We all saw the Hull City thrashing over the weekend. The goals from hat-trick from Torres and the added insurance from Gerrard and Babel made it a fun affair on Saturday afternoon. I’ll be honest: I haven’t had so much fun watching a match in a long, long time.

Sure, winning big game matches against Manchester United and Chelsea last year were fun; but this was something I’d been looking for: an absolute beating of a lower-table club at Anfield. Why is it that we’ve had so much trouble over the years taking care of clubs like Hull City in front of the home fans? It’s sickening to watch us play so well away from home, only to see us squander points to the likes of Hull or Stoke City, as we have in the past.

I’m hoping what we saw on Saturday was a preview of what’s to come this year. I’d love to make Anfield a house of horrors for any club that sets foot on the pitch. But most importantly, I hope this means we’ll be taking care of business when the mid-table clubs appear on the fixture list.

With Hull in the rear-view, we turn our heads to a mid-week clash with Fiorentina that should be a great measuring stick on where we are at the moment. Whilst I don’t like to put a whole lot of stock in the Champions League when it comes to our League aspirations, the fact is that we haven’t played a great club in some time.

Bolton, West Ham, Debrecen, Leeds, and Burnley make up the five opponents since we last felt the sour taste of defeat against Aston Villa. And we all know Villa is a far better team than any of the previous five. With that in mind, I think this is the perfect match for doubters who still contend that the club is missing something.

That something was consistency and a strong scoring presence early on, but both of those issues have been rectified. For me, the big question mark looming is the defence, a group that has looked rather ragged for the last couple of weeks.

Getting Agger back in the fold, as well as a healthy Skrtel should allow Rafa to rotate and give Carragher a rest. Whilst I love Jamie to death, I think we can all agree that he’s looked rather tired recently.

I’m hoping the rest he got over the weekend (he and the rest of the backline didn’t have to do much against Hull) will bring about a refreshed Carra. Either that, or I hope Rafa considers bringing Agger back to the bench (assuming he’s ready) and rotating the four (including Kyrgiakos). We’ll need the fresh legs this year if we want to contend on both fronts.

Regardless of what we all think, I’d imagine we could all agree the club is playing with a lot of confidence at the moment.

“I think we can take this mentality into the Champions League, because the team is playing with confidence and scoring goals and playing good football,” Benitez said prior to tonight’s match.

“Our form has a lot to do with [Fernando] Torres, obviously. In the last three games he has been outstanding. Torres can still improve, because he likes to learn. He is on fire at the moment and is a key player for us, but the Champions League is more difficult and he is aware of that.

Here’s hoping we leave Italy tonight with the three points. Also, make sure you check out our live blog starting at 19.45 tonight (7.45 pm)!

Today marks the 28th anniversary of the death of Bill Shankly. It’s really hard to believe it has been that long. Unlike most of you, I never had the privilege of watching Shankly in person. My age made it impossible, so I’ve instead been watching tape of the man for the last 20+ years of my life.

Instead of going on and on about what Shankly did for Liverpool and the supporters of the clubs during his tenure on Merseyside, I’ve decided to let someone else do it for me. Mind you, I’m not posting this because I’m lazy, but rather because this individual summed up the legend better than I probably could.

I was reading through some posts on RAWK and came across this wonderful post to Bill by a poster named ‘Shanklyboy’:

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Shanks was undoubtedly the single most influential manager in the history of football.
Many could argue that there have been other men who’s contribution was as great if not greater to their clubs. I wouldn’t argue with the facts that there were other great managers who’s name is indelibly woven into the history of many clubs.

Great managers like Stein, Busby, Chapman, Nicholson and our own Bob Paisley , all deserve their place amongst the games elite.

However I say without fear of contradiction that none of these great managers ever had anything like the same effect.

None had and more importantly, still have an influence on a club and it’s supporters.
None are woven into the psyche and the fabric of a club and it’s supporters like Bill Shankly.

Shankly was the man who brought together so many elements that I doubt we will ever witness the likes of his achievements again.

The belief he gave his players and the Liverpool supporters is woven into our psyche with good reason.
It is a benchmark that even now 35 years after he retired from Liverpool Football Club we still judge our team, our players and ourselves against.

Bill Shankly was more than a man who could be relied on for a witty quote or two. He was more than a man who had some success in his chosen field. There have been many men like that.

Shankly was an alchemist. A man who came to a place where he finally found a place where his formulae could work.

I use the term Alchemist simply because by definition it means ‘the art of transformation‘.
As anyone who was a Liverpool supporter when Shankly walked into Anfield for the first time as manager would testify. We were certainly in need of ‘transformation’. In fact even a mild improvement would have been more than expected.

What Shankly ultimately achieved was simply beyond the dreams of even the most expectant, most demanding and most hopeful of supporters.

Not only did this Scottish alchemist turn the common metal that was Liverpool Football Club into a glittering golden icon, but he garnished it with the jewels of pride, passion, humility, honesty and an ethos that would stand the test of time.

Whatever has been achieved by the club owes itself in some part to the efforts and influence of Bill Shankly.

Our most recent taste of that was Istanbul. Without the feeling and passion of the players and supporters who were immersed in the culture of our club; a culture that was begun over 50 years ago. I doubt if we would have overcome not only the immense obstacles that not only faced us on the way to that glorious night, but that were placed in front of us, seemingly every step of the way.

So whenever you were fortunate to become a Liverpool supporter. I would ask that today for a brief moment you say a small thank you to the man who gave you everything you hold dear about the greatest Football Club on Earth.

It is said that alchemy is both a philosophy and a practice with the aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties.

I think it’s fair to say that Bill Shankly achieved all of that and more.

Thanks Boss.

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I couldn’t have said it better myself. Good bless Bill Shankly and all he did for Liverpool Football Club.

Rafa Benitez has hailed Fernando Torres after he scored three goals against Hull today, but has warned that the Spanish striker will get better.

Torres now has 8 goals in 7 games, and is showing the kind of form that set the league alight in his first season at Anfield; however Benitez says that we have not seen the best of Fernando yet:“He can do even better, in the last three games he’s been really good. He’s improving and his mentality, workrate and movements show his ability.

“£20 million is a massive figure for us, so we knew he was good. But the main thing when we decided to bring him here apart from his quality was the potential, his age and the future he had. So, we are very pleased now but he can still improve.

Rafa also says Liverpool are playing the same system that saw the Reds struggle against the likes of Hull & Stoke last season, but have been easily brushed aside this time round: “We are not changing anything. Here, if you look at the team, it was more or less the same. It depends on the movement of the players. The system is more or less the same.

“Six goals is fantastic but it could have been even better because we had some chances. That’s another positive – the mentality of the team going forward, winning the game and still trying to score more.

Steven Gerrard scored an amazing curling shot today against Hull, but was it really a cross? Watch the video then make your mind up!

Most people would admit it was a cross, but after seeing Gerrard score screamer after screamer over the years, it’s not easy to tell..

Fernando Torres scored a hat trick as Liverpool battered Hull 6-1 at Anfield today.

Torres got 3, Gerrard got 1 and Babel got 2; although he knew nothing about his second goal after it bounced off his heel and went in (watch below)

Torres opened the scoring after 12 minutes, after Riera put a low cross in he created space for himself and shot across the keeper with his left foot. Hull equalised through Giovanni a few minutes later, somehow finding himself unmarked to smash the ball past Reina.

Torres then took it upon himself to give Liverpool the win, his 2nd goal coming after ripping the keeper and a defender to tap the ball in, and to complete his hat trick; Benayoun sent him through and again he took on a defender and put the ball in.

Babel scored a tap in from Kuyt’s cross, and also got this lucky goal:

The best goal came from Gerrard though; but who knows if he meant to cross it or score a contender for goal of the month:

Liverpool – Hull City – Funny home videos are a click away

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and this weekend’s match against Hull at Anfield should bring the perfect opportunity for the Reds to give get rid of the memories of last season’s 2-2 draw.

With the exception of Pompey who sit at the bottom without a point to their name, Hull City currently sit in the relegation zone based on goal differential. It has been far from a storybook start for the club who had aspirations of European football in a couple years time.

If anything, it looks like Hull will have a hell of a time just trying to beat the drop. As in years past, Liverpool have seemed to have issues disposing of lower opponents when it matters. Hopefully they can use last season’s shock draw at home as motivation to continue their great form.

I’ll predict a 3-1 win with Torres and Gerrard both getting on the scoresheet. I know, picking Gerrard and Torres to bag goals is really going out on a limb!

Also, make sure you join us this weekend for AnfieldRed’s LIVE BLOG of the Liverpool/Hull City match. We’ll getting things going about 5-10 minutes prior to kickoff at 15:00.

Watching video highlights of new signing Alberto Aquilani during his time at AS Roma, it’s easy to get excited about him finally getting the chance to step foot on the pitch. The biggest signings of the summer next to Glen Johnson has been held out of training with the first team as he recovers from ankle surgery that should hopefully (fingers crossed) allow him to come back at 100-percent when Rafa finally gives him the ok.

But don’t expect him back anytime soon. Speaking to the media yesterday, Rafa made it clear that Alberto won’t be rushed back into the first team. Whilst, his recovery is going as planned, he still hasn’t started running and cutting yet.

“He’s going forward, progressing and he’ll soon start running. If that goes okay then everything will go a bit faster,” the Reds boss told reporters at his Friday press conference.

“We have not set a target or any time, but he’s doing well.”

Without a target date, that means he’ll most likely be the final piece of the puzzle to return to the pitch, thus allowing Rafa the chance to pick from a full-strength squad.

We will be getting some great news in the coming days, after Benitez confirmed that Daniel Agger and Nabil El Zhar will be returning to action in the coming days. Who knows, maybe Agger will feature on the bench for the upcoming match against Hull.

“Both are very close. They’re involved in full training sessions but still they’ll need match fitness.

“They’ll need time to play some games. Now we have some very important games, so we’ll see – but both are very close.”

At long last it looks like we’re finally getting the entire squad back. It couldn’t come at a better time with the holiday season bringing a full slate of matches that usually leave us playing at least two a week.

Javier Mascherano could be in trouble with the FA for an incident that occurred during last night’s match against Leeds. The moment in question came late in the second half between Jermaine Beckford of Leed and Mascherano.

Here’s the report from ESPN:

Javier Mascherano could be facing a violent conduct charge from the Football Association after appearing to hit Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford on the back of the head with a swinging arm in Liverpool’s 1-0 win in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.

If it is found Wiley did see the incident then no charges can be brought, but if the referee’s report submitted to the governing body states he did not spot the blow, action can be taken on video evidence and Mascherano will face a charge of violent conduct and a likely three-game suspension. (ESPN)

Now I saw the incident and can tell you it looked pretty harmless. Mascherano tried to turn away from Beckford and appeared to catch him with an elbow. Mind you, Beckford was already grabbing at Masch before the ball was thrown in. I think this is the media’s way of making a mountain out of a mole hill.

I’d be completely shocked if the FA decided to come after Masch. But then again, the FA has done stranger things before.

So if you didn’t already get enough of Liverpool and Leeds last night, we figured we’d tack on some more highlights and discussion from the match. Here’s the recap via Sky Sports…

Right, so this was a spur of the moment decision. It looks like I’ve got a reliable feed for tonight’s match, so about doing a LIVE blog on AR for once? After all, there’s always a first for everything!

Come join the action in the blog…