Anfield Red

Kuyt, Voronin and Babel cost us Wednesday’s Carling Cup game against Arsenal. Plain and simple.

Why? Not one of them was good quality enough when it mattered. What I have been saying about Kuyt is, that without Gerrard and Torres he is exposed for what he really is: a workhorse with a poor first touch, and a player who needs five chances before he scores. Voronin was so poor I would never let him near a Red shirt again; and Babel well he has gone so far down hill, he needs to move on.

The rest played ok, but lets be honest here — we do not have the squad to win all competitions. We need to save are best players for the Premier League and Champions League matches. So the Mickey Mouse Cup is the last thing we need to worry about. Fulham then Lyon are far more important for you lot who say it’s a trophy to win. I say if that is all Rafa did win, you critics of Rafa would have said it was only the Mickey Mouse Cup.

In your eyes he would not win. With a bit of luck we could have won, but hey, that’s my opinion. I still think the top four should not be in this competition; the Champions League and Premier League come first. Hell, even the Fa Cup is better quality competition that the Carling Cup. What I’m trying to say is that we cannot afford to pick up injuries in silly cup competitions like the one on Wednesday. We don’t have the squad to back us up, as last night proved.

Despite Liverpool still being unbeaten in the Premiership, Manager Rafael Benitez is refusing to get carried away and start talking about winning the league or any other competition this season.

Speaking ahead of a difficult week with ties against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez admitted he is not thinking about winning any competitions this early in the season: “I am confident that my players can produce the right performances this week, We are showing character and the right mentality you need for a winning team. We have Atletico next, and then Chelsea, two very tough away matches.

“But with games like that to come, how can we start talking about what we can win this season? It is too early to be talking of titles and cups. We must just keep going the way we are.

“It has to be a case of concentrating on each game, not looking to the future. But our players are showing great character”

“The team showed great character to beat Wigan on Saturday, and we are showing the belief that we can win every game. The Premier League is very tough. To show the mental strength we have displayed this season is very positive.

“We did that again against Wigan and we must maintain it for the next games, particularly this week.

“My priority is now Atletico, not Chelsea just yet. But the games are very close together and we will see whether we can continue to show the character we have been showing.”

Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun are both fit to start in tomorrow’s clash with PSV at Anfield, having missed the win over Everton through Injury.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez confirmed the pair were fit and available for selection for the Champion’s League tie:”Both players trained this morning and are fit, We will have another training session in the morning but at the moment we have a fully fit squad.”

John Arne Riise is fit and ready to face Birmingham City, after being out for 2 weeks with a groin injury.

Riise missed the games against Portsmouth and Porto, but is now back in contention to face Birmingham at Anfield.

"I'm fit again and raring to go now, It was devastating for me to miss the last two games because they were big matches against Portsmouth and Porto.

"I picked up the injury playing for my national team but a scan shown it wasn't a serious problem. I missed four or five days training but I'm a quick healer and thankfully I am fit again now.

"Throughout my time at Liverpool I haven't picked up too many injuries and haven't missed too many games. I'm full of energy now after not playing in the last couple of games and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week's training and the chance to force my way back into the side at the weekend".

Rafael Benitez left Robbie Fowler on the pitch to show what he was capable of, and he thought Fowler could bring the reds back into the game.

Fowler opened the scoring before Liverpool went 3-1 down, and he scored in the closing minutes to make it 3-2, but Liverpool lost the game.

Benitez took Bellamy off for Peter Crouch, leaving Robbie to complete 90 minutes, and explained his reasoning behind leaving God on the pitch:

"Craig had been doing well, but I needed to see other strikers working, which is why I put on Peter Crouch.

"And Robbie needed to play a full 90 minutes, and he did very well. He scored the sort of goals we all know he is capable of. He is a player with the finishing talent to do what he did.

Maybe we could have saved something and Fowler is always likely to produce something from nothing"

Florent Sinama-Pongolle says he does not want to return to Liverpool when his season long loan expires at Recreativo Huelva.

Sinama was sent on loan after the arrivals of Kuyt and Bellamy,as his chances of a first team game would have been very limited, but he has been playing well and scored 5 goals since his move.

Speaking about returning to Anfield, Sinama said :

No, I don't see myself at Liverpool next year, it is over.

"I have been important for them, helping them to win cups, scoring in the Champions League and FA Cup.

"But I feel very good in Spain. The league is more technical, less direct, and I have scored five goals."

Why when we are struggling for goals/wins do we put our top scorer on the bench?

There have been six games this season that we have failed to score in, and away from home we have not won all season. We have drawn once and lost 5 out of the last games away, where are we going wrong?

At Anfield, in our last 6 we have won 5 and drawn once, why is there such a difference? it cannot be all down to the crowd? Is it the chopping and changing of the team too much? Peter Crouch has been firing goals in and still remains on the bench, yet Bellamy has been getting a game and not scoring?

Craig Bellamy has scored 2 goals in 16 appearances for the reds this season, once in the Champions League qualifying game against Maccabi Haifa and once against former club Blackburn. Of the sixteen appearances, only four have been as a substitute.

Peter Crouch is our top scorer this season, with 8 goals in 18 games, yet still finds himself on the bench. He has made six substitute appearances, but has been scoring when playing, helping us through the group stage of the Champions League and has scored against the likes of Chelsea (community shield), West Ham, Spurs, Galatasary and Maccabi Haifa. What has he got to do to get a start? When he came on against Middlesbrough he nearly scored only for his header to be cleared by Woodgate. Rafa was quick to defend the big man last season when he was not scoring, but now he seems happy to drop him to the bench.

Robbie Fowler has scored twice in seven appearances this season, making 3 sub appearances. Last season he had a great record when he returned to the club, scoring six in 9 games for the reds. Fowler has only been a bit part player, playing in the carling cup, and getting the odd league game. God must be wondering what he has to do to get a game, he scored on the opening day of the season, and a great finish against Reading in the cup, but has since found himself not even in the squad half the time. He has played 9 games less than Bellamy but has still scored the same amount of goals? Time to get Fowler back in the team, we are missing his goals and clever play at the moment. Anyone who says he is past it only has to watch his goal against Reading.

Dirk Kuyt has been a good signing for the reds, he never stops running or working for the team. However, 5 goals in 17 games does not reflect the effort he puts in each game. Kuyt has been a substitute 5 times, and is obviously seen as Rafa's favourite striker, keeping Crouch out the team despite his goals for club and country. Kuyt will turn out to be a quality signing for the reds, but like the rest of the team needs more goals/wins to get confidence going.

Luis Garcia has been mentioned as he sometimes plays as a second striker. He has scored 4 goals in 14 games this season, making four substitute appearances. Luis Garcia tends to be more suited to European games, but , whilst most Liverpool fans will probably describe him as the most frustrating player , no one can deny we have missed his contribution this season when he has been out through injury or has simply been dropped. 3 of his 4 goals have been in Europe, two against Bordeaux and one against Galatasary. In the league, he has only scored once against Aston Villa.

Something has to change, we are not scoring as often as we should be, much has been said about Gerrard not scoring, but, at the end of the day he is not a striker, goals are not his job. Goals should come from everywhere in the team, but most should come from the strikers, but it seems at Anfield the more you score, the less you play? Crouch has been in great form for England, scoring 11 in 13 at one point, and for us he is our top scorer?

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard insists he is happy playing on the right of midfield, and that whatever is best for the club comes first.

Gerrard has been playing on the right and left of midfield this season, Rafa has said that he plays just as well there as the centre, and he plays that role for England; but the Liverpool boss has been criticised for not playing his captain in his favoured central role.

Gerrard insists he is more than happy to play where ever he is needed: The position is not the issue, When you are a young player breaking through you want to play in your favourite position, you are desperate to get into the team.

"But I am 26 now, I have to think of the team first. If the manager needs me to do a job on the right or the left I have got to accept it.

"He knows where I would like to play but I also understand that there is a job to be done for the team and I need to do what the manager wants me to do.

"I have heard he has said the order of priority is "team, club, supporters, players" and I agree with that. It is not about individual players, it is about the team.

"Last season we finished third in the league and we got 82 points, a club record, and we won the FA Cup. And 75% of the time I played on the right."

He also said that he is positive that he is ready to start playing to the best of his ability again, and that it is only a matter of time before he is firing on all cylinders again.
There has always been pressure on me since I have become captain of Liverpool and I can understand the criticism and take it on the chin,"

"I know I am not playing at the standard I want to play at but I feel as if my best form is only around the corner. A little fluky goal or a big performance will turn my form around.

"I know I am a good player and good players have dips in form. And that is happening at the moment.

"Certain people expect me to go out every game and be man of the match and score from 30 yards, but it is impossible to do that at the level we are playing at. It's really difficult.

"I also understand when I am not playing to my own standards, and I can take the stick when it comes my way.

"I've had a couple of dips in form in my career so far, but this is the first one since Rafael Benitez has taken over.

"I had a couple of dips in form under Gerard Houllier and I came back a better player and a stronger character for it. Hopefully I will do the same again.

"I know my best form is just around the corner, I can feel it coming back in training."

Xabi Alonso says he is looking forward to seeing Champions League hero Vladimir Smicer again.

Smicer hit Liverpool's second goal in the famous Champions League final, but has since left Anfield for Bordeaux; who the reds face tonight.

Speaking about the reunion of goalscorers, Alonso said "I am looking forward to seeing Vladi again and I will always remember him as being a very good team-mate,"

"He was really funny and he is a really good player who did really important things for this club. He was always smiling and despite him being injured for a long time he always had a great attitude and he brought a smile to the changing room. He is a really nice guy.

"Of course when the game starts all we will be thinking about is trying to win the game. It's always difficult when you play away from home in the Champions League but we see it as a really good chance for us to make the gap even bigger in the group. We are looking forward to it and hope we can get a good result."

Check out some of these pics taken at the Spurs game.

Bellamy ready to shoot in the pre-match warm up:

Hyypia walking away after flattening Defoe:

Gerrard waits to see if anyone scores from his cross:

The players celebrate with Gonzalez:

Kuyt runs towards the kop to celebrate his goal:

Kuyt after scoring :

Kuyt salutes the fans in the main stand:

The players celebrate with Kuyt:

Riise after scoring his 30 yard rocket: