Going Spanish

Be wary, your days are numbered

If Chow Kit is Indonesia away from Indonesia, then Anfield must be a Spain away from Spain.

Already boasting 5 Spanish internationals in Torres, Alonso, Reina, Arbeloa and Riera, it seems Rafa is raiding his former club Valencia or known locally as 'Los Che' to strengthen Liverpool next term.

Los Che is beyond recognition from those days when they made Barca and Real look like schoolboys few years back. Saddled with debt, Los Che is seriously looking to offload players to stay in existence. It has been reported that Valencia is only days away from bankruptcy.

Solutions? Sell your best players. Villa, Silva, Albiol, Mata, lock, stock and barrel.
Of course they will sell to highest bidders but beggars cannot be choosers. That's reality. No free lunches anywhere in the world.

Rafa has staunchly denied the comings of several stars notably Silva and Albiol but I think these 2 will be in Anfield next season. Rafa the politician is definitely better than Syed Hamid that we know. Deny everything then unveil them at the Anfield steps, touching that famous sign.

Should we rejoice? Of course, Silva is damn good and Albiol, a defender cum defensive midfielder would be good addition to already strong Liverpool squad.
If these 2 really join the ranks, then I would assume some departures to balance the books.

Silva can operates from both flanks and in Albiol, I see an alternative to Masch. All in all, both would be good additions. Now we are talking about in depth, aren't we?

Then, it's bye-bye to Lucas, Benayoun and probably Babel as well. Anyone else Rafa?

Samson and Delilah Part 2

It was kinda funny when I read somewhere that quoted Rafa as saying we should have score more goals when leading 5-0 with 20 minutes to go against 10 men Villa.

He has grounds to make a statement like that. Goal difference could make a difference should the contest goes to the wire.
As a loyalist, I concur with him. 100%.

But, deeply we know it's not gonna happen if somebody like this.........

enters the field. Sort of anti climax.

See, we led Real 4-0 and he entered the field. Nothing happened.

Then,when we were leading Villa by 5, against 10 limping men, 20 minutes to go and still nothing happened. The tempo went down immediately as if you're switching the lights off.
I guess Rafa sent him on to replace tired legs not to kill off the excitement but Lucas is a player who does nothing but walks with the ball. No sense of urgency from him.

And Rafa expects the earth to shakes violently when he sent Lucas on? Baffling.....

I admit taking occasional potshots at Lucas while we are winning is a non conformity to the rules. See, it's an extension to the word 'anti climax' if you find it anti climatic. That's exactly how I felt in the wee hours of a Monday morning or any other late games. You sacrificed your sleep and everything else but to be served poorly in front of the telly deserves some retaliation.

And Rafa was wondering why we did not score more goal after he sent Lucas on. Baffling again....

Maybe he's a Samson after all. We all know what happened to Samson after somebody cut his hair.

Victor and the Vanquished

Another rout perhaps?

Man U were done in by the Cottagers and the mighty Liverpool strolled past Villa. That was last week.
Next week.....

It's a reverse of this week's fixtures. The other way round.
Liverpool will go to Craven Cottage and Villa will visit Old Trafford, the very site where Liverpool gave MU a footballing lesson. Free of course.

It'll be a game for the victors and another game for the vanquished. Funny old game ha...

Dare to predict the outcome?

Heroes and Villains Part 2

Villain & Hero

While the score still at 1-0, Pepe made that save. That was the turning point of the game. Had Carew scored, the script could have been different. Alas, we went on to screw Villa further by quick succession of goals without a single reply. Villa's task were made more difficult by Friedel's sending off.

They could not live with Liverpool with 11 able men, what more with 10?
Sure, the final score flattered Liverpool as Villa floundered but as I said earlier, it could have been a different outcome had Carew scored, first with a neat flick and later that header.

3 glorious weeks. 13 goals for and 1 goal against, albeit a lucky penalty won by Korean Park Ji Sung. Three supposedly good teams fell with a swoop of Kop magic wand.
Still, it's Manure's title to lose. At this juncture, we have win every other game till the end while hoping MU still rattling, to lose further games. Maybe fate has other ideas?

As if everybody is conspiring against Liverpool, the unwanted international break rears its ugly head again. I suppose with the confidence Liverpool are having now, the break could see us losing momentum. Players could be injured and derailed our hopes to catch Man U. Dreaded of course but let's hope no untoward incident happens within the break.

Fancy Rossi overtaking at the very last corner anyone?

Heroes and Villains

C'mon you Reds!

Both Man U and Chelsea bit the dust last night and the so called experts/pundits immediately went on to say aloud that the title race is blown wide open. Is that so?

I'd like to believe so but the fact is Man U still lead by 4 points. Register a thumping against Villa tonight and the lead will be cut to a single point albeit an extra game in hand for MU. Based on the current form, many will predict a walk in the park for Liverpool.

That's where the danger lies. Many times before they flattered to deceive and we were left shaking our heads, thinking what could have been.

MU was clearly rattled judging from last night show from our football clinic at the Theater of Dreams. They finished with 9 men and could be losing talisman Rooney for a number of games in the title run in. Are they bottling it? Maybe but the work to chase them starts tonight at Anfield.

Win at all cost and who knows what it might do to MU's confidence not to mention ours, already high and intoxicating.

First, Lucas & Co, please strut your normal stuff. I want to believe.

Samson and Delilah

bad hair day in the office

Samson, as we knew from Literature Form 1, drew strength from his hair. As a typical man in the street, he also had weaknesses. His was budding, intimate affair with Delilah, a voluptuous Angelina Jolie lookalike. That was told by my teacher, one 'Mat Salleh" whose name escaped my brain and we accepted his story at face value. Forgivable, I guess. That was more than 20 years ago.

So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."
"No razor has ever been used on my head," he said. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

Samson fell for her tricks and while in the act, Delilah cut his hair and Samson was subdued, caught and killed. Cunning plot.

That's how the story goes.

So what's their connection with Liverpool? Nothing really.

In the absence of Alonso last week, Lucas, my 'favourite" player was fielded in his place alongside Monster Masch. Generally he did okay except for several brushes of wayward passes, half hearted challenges. You know the typical Lucas.

The question is how on earth can Lucas plays so well?

a. Overrated Man U made him look good
b. Luck played a part in making him look good
c. Masch bailed him out on many occasions
d. None of the above

And the answer is........

None of the above. What? Why?

Let me tell the secret. He cut his hair recently and disposed those black hair bands.
And that made him good. Totally the opposite of Samson.

His Delilah? Do not care one bit.

A Joyous Season

Beware of his right boot. Vidic who?

What an incredible week for us all. That big win over eternal rival Manure was an icing on the cake really. Obviously we expect more, more joyous occasions to celebrate.

Really, it has been incredible. Rafa signed an extension to his contract, Gerrard been cleared of his assault charge and it's Chelsea again in the Champions League. What more to ask?

Rafa, upon signing his prolonged contract saga is set to become Liverpool's longest serving manager if he completes the tenure. As of now, he is the most successful manager in recent times even eclipsing King Kenny, what more Monsieur Houllier and Souness. He chalked up his 100th wins last week and earlier brought Liverpool to CL finals, not once but twice. A last 8 berth in CL is becoming a routine for Liverpool now, year in year out.

On Champions League front, we are set to lock horns with the Blues again. Last year we were beaten by Drogba's brilliance at the Bridge. Similar outcome this year? No way Guus!
It'll be tight of course but I've confidence in this team judging based on current form.
We beat them home and away in EPL and there should be no reason why we cannot achieve the same feat again in CL, being the only realistic chance of silverware for Liverpool unless Manure did the unthinkable by bottling it like our next opponent in EPL, Aston Villa.

Villa managed by O'Neill started like Usain Bolt but finishing like a whimper and there's no better time to sock it to them this Sunday. My take? Liverpool to win comfortably again. You know what confidence can bring to a team's performance? Just ask Manure.
Real Madrid trashing is a Tonic Ahmad Nandok to the players and Rooney & Co bore the full brunt of the magnificent tonic. It's everlasting effect will again resurface on Sunday and for that, and that alone will send O'Neill into submission.

Gloat You Must

I didn't write much lately. Was terribly busy meeting deadlines and those tiring outstation visits, endless traveling and all.

Not even the big win over Real moved me to scribble my thoughts and admittedly, I have thrown the towel to the EPL challenge. A surprise overtaking manouvre at the last corner ala Valentino Rossi would only be a bonus, I said to myself.

But, a chance to gloat over MU? Hell, no way I would miss it.
Forget the drawn games. Forget everything else.
In arguably the biggest game in the universe, we thrashed MU 4-1 at their own turf. When did they ever lose in such embarassing manner so much so that they were countless empty seats near the end of the match? Talking about 'malu babi'. Yes, the MU supporters were in that kind of state. In Malaysia too, I would presume. Nobody would want to wear MU jersey to avoid those smirks, you know what I mean.

You have to go back to pre- independent for such results and could be needing another 50 years to witness such heights again. I could go on to narrate every tiny details in the colossal match but let just savour the win. It's priceless.

Ohh that boy Fernando. 2 seasons in and you're already a legend!

Borrowed Time

I sympathize with my friends who are still believing that Liverpool are able to steal the thunder from MU at the very last corner. That was before Boro game though. I wonder if they're still believing the dream now.
See....I admire their courage but I still think it is beyond Liverpool this season. Infact, I unwillingly threw the white towel many weeks ago and as it happened, the Boro defeat did not disappoint me that much as before.
I have resigned to the fact that it will not be our year albeit the fanfare and happiness the team brought to us earlier in the season.

Boro aside, Rafa still yet to sign the new contract and Rick Parry who doesn't know how to market Liverpool beyond UK is going to step down finally. No news about possible takeover from the Yanks. I do hope a knight in a shining armour will rescue Liverpool and pour in much needed money. Yes, money...lots of it.
You don't win titles these days with mediocre players like Kuyt, Babel, Lucas and others who repeatedly failed us this season with inconsistencies.
You need more world class players similar to Gerrard and Torres stature to compete with Chelsea, MU and Arsenal. What we don't need is the above players who failed to shine when given chances when these 2 are injured.

To buy more players, we need money and unless the Yanks are booted out, we'll have the same problem though Rafa did his best with his set of limited players who have limited skills also.

Lets concentrate on Champions League. EPL is beyond us!