Anfield Red

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.

The age old theory that 1000 monkeys on 1000 typewriters could recreate the works of William Shakespeare has today been put to bed, as the mob jumped on the bandwagon to try and force Rafa out by printing page after page of drivel ruled this theory out.

I used to believe predicting Liverpool’s home matches was an easy task. You’d give them a great shout to defeat the mid-table and bottom-feeders of the league most nights, and then give them a shout to nick a win or most likely a draw against the top four. Simple as.

We all know things have been changing quite rapidly this season, with Liverpool having only won three out of their last 15 matches this season. Draws against Blackburn, Birmingham and Manchester City have become the norm, whilst second half collapses have also become part of what can only be described as a laughable season to this point.

Wigan step on the pitch for a critical clash (they’re all critical from here on out) against Liverpool at Anfield. Whilst it’d be easy to mark this one down as a three-pointer, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with this team.

It won’t be easy, but I still expect Liverpool to get some the win tomorrow. I’ll predict a final score of 3-1, with Torres and Gerrard getting on the score sheet in the process.

Leave you score prediction in the comments.

Three wins in 15 matches. If you were to take a good long look at that sentence and make a guess at the club those stats were associated with, I can almost guarantee you there wouldn’t be a soul out there that would pick Liverpool.

Why, you ask? Well for one, Liverpool have built themselves up as a team that could bend but never break under Rafa Benitez. Whilst we’ve never tasted a league title during Rafa’s tenure, I’ve always been proud of the fact that the club has been resilient in even the toughest of times.

Narrowly losing out to Chelsea last season in the Champions League semi-final without the services of Steven Gerrard was just one of the many matches I can recall that made me proud to be a Red in defeat. I’ve never once held my head down and complained about the club. But after another defeat at home, my mood is starting to sour in a hurry.

Rafael Benitez has named his starting line up to face Everton at Goodison Park today, using the same team that faced Debrecen in midweek.

Another week, another glimmer of hope rained on. Liverpool fans are, on the whole, an optimistic bunch, but a second successive 2-2 home draw – this time against potential Champions League rivals Manchester City – left many heading out of Anfield boasting only of apathy and indifference. The optimism was gathering pace ahead of a lunchtime kick off in the November wind and rain. The sight of a substitutes’ bench containing Fabio Aurelio, Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera and Alberto Aquilani warmed the hearts of many within Anfield, even if the weather threatened to freeze them to their seats.