Beach Ball 1 – Liverpool 0
Oct 18, 2009 Football
If you still hadn’t know, Liverpool’s title hopes were deflated, much like the beach ball that assisted Darren Bent’s eigth league goal did, when the Black Cats conjured a solid home display by scoring the only goal of the game within 5 minutes.
Very disappointing and for once Benitez conceded defeat, no beating about the bush or running around an arguements in circles, but just the admission that his team wasn’t good enough.
For the first time in EPL’s history, an assist may well be attributed to a beach ball indeed.
Anyway, it’s an irritating statistic of Liverpool that they continuously fail to overcome the lower status teams in the league, and once again the statistics adds up here.
Another irritating thing I’ve deduced is of my blog’s auto-starting music — like it’s supposed to only play when someone clicks play and not automatically!
One thing for sure, this is easily fixed with just a couple lines of code, but as for Red’s plight, it might need a couple of zeroes at the end of a chequebook, but that’s not coming anytime soon eh?
Tags: Beach Ball, Liverpool FC, Sunderland
Sunderland VS Liverpool
Oct 17, 2009 Football
Not since 2002 has Liverpool shed any points off any games against Sunderland, and it’s been like a donation drive trip for EPL points whenever they visit the Stadium of Light, so despite Torres and Gerrard’s crucial ‘MIA’ tonight, there’s ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ — unless Lucas starts in the middle again and screws up horribly, again.
And news of Zenden’s arrival at the Stadium of Light hadn’t quashed any fears that Liverpool will be dropping points against a team that’s been on a resurgent run under Steve Bruce’s tutelage. Couple that with the thought that EPL’s top English goal scoring machine of the moment, Darren Bent, will be roaming around in a leaky defence, and one of the top assisting Englishman, Andy Reid, it doesn’t bode well for Liverpool.
So let’s see with Torres and Gerrard out, and with an eye on the Champion’s League game coming up next, just who will Benitez start the game with?
Babel partnering Ngog upfront? Or is it the experienced pair of Kuyt and Benayoun? Or will he gamble with Voronin and.. okay, just Voronin? How scary are these line-up?
Then let’s consider the midfield pairing. Lucas and Mascherano? Hmm, two young South Americans who just flew halfway around the world for integral world cup qualifying games recently. Benayoun and Plessis? Jay Spearing and… holy cow, there’s no more available midfielders in Liverpool!? Aquilani’s still out injured so it’s miserable times these days. Not entirely intimidating ‘engine room’ which no doubt will be eaten alive by Lyon and Manchester, should it remain the same in games to come.
As for defence, I won’t even go in too much, cos there’s not much really.
I wonder if the Arabs will buy the club as is rumoured and perhaps inject the much needed cash to transform the ailing club’s fortunes, but if they were astute businessman, shouldn’t they be looking at the club’s asset and wonder if it’ll even make a good investment? I mean, just look at the players’ line-up!
So sad, but I’ll have to concede that Liverpool’s current available squad looks just as good as Sunderland’s reserve team. What a comparison right?
Anyways, as for tonight’s result, I’m still confident that Liverpool will wing it their way and fly off with all 3 points, simply because the Sunderland boys will be giving way too much respect to the team from Anfield, and play even more defensive, despite Rafa deploying a defensive tactic — as I think Liverpool’s history and reputation carries enough weight to affect Bruce’s decisions.
So 1 goals to nothing, in Liverpool’s favour tonight. Heh.
Tags: EPL, Liverpool FC
53,000 Years Later And Liverpool Still Chasing Their 19th Title.
And I’ve just made my million dollars. But this post isn’t about me, it’s about the unfathomable and almost always blameless Rafa Benitez.
Someone at work pointed out to me that there are great managers and then there are managers that blame others, and Rafa is one of those that finger points often. According to this guy, everytime Liverpool suffers a setback, he refuses to take the blame of perhaps using the wrong tactics or personnel, but rather choose to deflect the attention towards a pair of squabbling owners who don’t give him enough spare change to play with.
And that is exactly what Rafa has been doing eh? I don’t know. My guy at work points me to example like how Rafa wastefully and excessively purchase unproven youngsters, most prominently players like Lucas and Babel who’ve been warming the seats for too many games and staying cold on the pitch for just as many games.
And then he also points at how Rafa approaches a game and comments on the predominantly defensive tactics of the Liverpool manager, and the cautious approach that he brings to the team, which in turns leads to an over-reliance over burnt-out players like Torres and Gerrard.
Of course, naturally being a Reds fan, I oppose and counter his every allegations, but one allegation I failed to counter was why he brought in an injured player for nearly 20million? Alberto Aquilani has yet to even grace the substitute bench, and as excited as I am in watching what he brings to the team, I’m quite sceptic as to his abilities as well.
First off, he’s Italian, and Italians are never known for their creativity nor flair. They’re naturally good at headers or getting a headbuttm especially from certain Frenchmen.
Second off, he’s young. 22years of football experience, unproven at the world stage and Rafa gambles on this prodigy as a replacement for Alonso.
Thirdly, why didn’t he spend that amount on David Silva or David Villa!?!?!?
These are probably reasons as to why that guy at work thinks Rafa is a douchebag, which is against my sentiments, but he does carry some vital points in his arguements.
So this season’s Championship may appear to be slowly and painfully escaping Liverpool’s grasps, but I hope I don’t have to wait 53,000 years to see Liverpool lift their 19th Championship title, ‘cos I’m still willing to wait till next year.
Heh, the ever so typical Liverpudlian eh? Full of patience… and loads of loyalty!
Tags: Liverpool FC, Rafa Benitez
Roaring Back To Life, For A While.
Oct 5, 2009 Football
It may seem like a coincidence but does Liverpool’s performance has a relation with my bike situation?
Last mid-week, when Liverpool faltered 2-0 to Fiorentina in the UEFA Champions League, my bike failed to start rendering me bikeless, just as I wanted to return back to work from buying lunch in town, which I then took the cab back to office and barely paying for the fare with just a $5 note in my pocket — the fare was $4.80! Had the fare exceeded my pocket money, I’d have to ask the taxi to reverse then!
Anyway, my bike’s all fine now, despite dying and stuttering back then. I think fine is an understatement. It is ROARING again! Riding in the misty after-rain conditions earlier was simply superb, and I was on my way back from a client’s wedding to watch Liverpool’s game on tele, while I still can. (Singtel’s hijacked the EPL from SCV next year loh! Sobs. No more soccer on the big screen in the living room!)
Liverpool fared pretty decently well in the first half. Mascherano was back to his sniping ways while Gerrard was impeccable as usual. Unfortunately, Torres found the close attention of Chelsea’s defence too, um, close to his liking and was a restricted man throughout the 45 minutes. My thoughts, wow, Liverpool doing really great today! (My bike great, liverpool great, wow, a correlation!) I was pretty confident that Liverpool was going to come out all with all guns blazing in the second half.
Then Chelsea hit us with a sucker punch with the ever-so powerful Drogba crossing for Anelka to open the scoring. My thoughts, wow, Liverpool went behind but its okay, just a minor blip like what my bike experienced mid-week, and I was DARN confident that a late surge will see Liverpool bring home all 3 points.
Peppering the Chelsea end with long shots, mostly off-target, Liverpool looked like they were going to get the equaliser soon, but then Malouda had other ideas, ideas which didn’t quite agree with me, but I had to take it all in like a man. Again, Drogba powered his way into the penalty box before laying the ball into Malouda’s path for the game-and-set goal.
Chelsea 2 – Liverpool 0. It all seems so disappointingly familiar. Bah.
Hais. I guess there’s no relation between Liverpool’s performance and my bike’s situation after all. Maybe it’s my dota situation instead?
Tags: EPL, Liverpool FC
Luck Favours The Brave
Oct 4, 2009 Football
Ever felt that when you know you’ve got to do something but you’re holding back because for fear of failure? Well then, have you ever heard of the phrase ‘luck favours the bold’?
This is so especially true as shown in this early morning’s game between Manchester United and Sunderland. Trailing 2 goals to 1, Ferguson’s men threw caution to the wind and sieged Sunderland’s penalty box as if it was Apocalypse tomorrow. Too bad the Black Cats, the nickname for Sunderlandiansm or wahtever you call them, crumbled under the pressure with an unlucky own goal.
Yes, I’d say that it was an unlucky own goal, but I wouldn’t say that Manchester United was lucky. They created THAT own-goal. Would they have achieved it if half their players were half as motivated to play half as determined? Now that’s too many halves but I’m a firm believer that you make your own luck.
Like, why sit around all night long in a cyber cafe playing online games with people you barely know and then get hyper frustrated over a loss, if any? No, you’re not going to seal that $1000 direct sales deal by sitting in front of the monitor playing games. No, you’re not going to gain insight on how to close a sales, by wasting your time away like that.
Wow. Did I just hypothetically deduce how wasteful I’ve become, albeit indirectly and after giving a short discussion about Manchester United’s insanely obscene amount of luck that goes their way. Think about that 96th minute winner against Man City when they were given only 4 mins to understand why I pick on them specifically. And it’s not just because I’m a Liverpudlian. Okay, maybe it’s because I’m a Liverpudlian and my Dad’s a United fan. But Dad, I’ve nothing against you, in case you inexplicably reach upon these pages and are reading this. Love ya, but I ain’t got enough to sponsor your car insurance. Heh.
Anyway, yes, Manchester United may be claimed as lucky by some quarters, but boy do they work hard in achieving their results.
So final outcome of the game? Manchester United 2 – Luckless Black Cats (Sunderland) 2.
Wait a minute, maybe some people may argue that the Black Cats were lucky to score twice with the only 2 shots on goal that they had? Ahhhh, now that’s another story to tel…
Tags: BPL, Manchester United, Sunderland
Fiorentina 2 – Liverpool 0
Sep 30, 2009 Football
It’s a good thing that I’m not able to watch the game on tv (cos my TV’s connected to SCV’s football channel in the living room, while my MioTV is still awaiting to be connected to a TV in the bedroom. This meant that I was allowed to catch up on sleep instead of waking up in the middle of the night to catch Liverpool play, which I WOULD have done if I COULD.
Again, it’s a good thing that I missed the game because Liverpool lost! Had I watched it, my bro would probably be cursing throughout the match, which would be a double sore for me!
Why oh why are we so dependent on this guy, Torres, here?
With the rumoured percentage takeover of the Saudi prince of Liverpool’s Co-Owner’s stakes, at least there’s some hope that some sort of cash will be injected into the club to fund some proper game-winning acquisitions, like bringing in David Villa perhaps?
Anyway, not since 2 and half years ago did Liverpool fail to score in a Champions League game, but all good things come to and eh? Just like this post…
Tags: Champions League, Liverpool FC
Liverpool 6 – Hull 1
Sep 28, 2009 Football, Me, Myself & I
No wonder DOTA session today felt great, despite losing some and winning some games. Liverpool put 6 past Hull city, which looked unlikely when Geovanni leveled the scoreline, but when Torres is in the form of his life, weaving and dancing past defenders, there really isn’t any other outcome is there?
And this guy coming to Liverpool for Euro 49M? Rafa did requested for the co-owners the fund to bring this hotshot in, but for Euro49M?
Really? Do we even have that money? This after my beloved Reds brought Kyrgiakos as defensive cover for a miserly Euro3M!?!This after bringing in Babel and Ngog for millions of pounds and not giving them the chance to play regularly?
Wahahaha.. Okay, so I’m excited at the prospect of this fella’s arrival but until any papers are signed, this is nothing more that just a rumour.
Euro 49M! Wow. That’s countless hours of DOTA sessions man…
Oh, yeahooo! Liverpool won again! *winks*
Tags: David Villa, Liverpool FC
Liverpool 1 – 0 Debrecen (Ole, Ole, Ole!)
Sep 17, 2009 Football
What Kuyt did this morning against Debrecen should be emulated by strikers all over the world, as his follow up to Torres’ shot was to be the sole goal in this one sided Champions League game. Here’s a link for the video highlights, Liverpool 1 – Debrecen 0.
Wait a minute, just who on earth are Debrecen? They sound more like a spare part to a car engine instead of a football team, but that’s to be forgiven for being a small club from one of Europe’s outskirt domestic leagues, the Hungarian league. With a ground capacity of just more than 9000, they probably got the jitters to perform in front of almost 50,000 screaming, crazy, fanatic fans at Anfield, but really?
In ernest, Debrecen made Liverpool to work for its goal, and actually performed well even though they were outclassed in possession and almost every other area of the field. If yo consider Liverpools’ 68% possession rate to Barcelona’s 65% (against Inter Milan, in the same competition this morning), Debrecen can be likened to an Inter Milan stature then eh?
Anyway, despite not being able to watch the game live on SCV, cos it’s only available on MIO TV, which I’m subscribed to but have no TV in the room to connect to, I could only watch the game’s highlights from the link I’ve shared above. But this meant that I am spared the 90 minutes of waking moment and instead have the opportunity to sleep away, and then grab the highlights of about 2-3 mins and digest it quickly.
More sleep, I’d always welcome that with open arms, and couple that with Liverpool’s 3 points in the Champions League, I think I should be able to sleep well these coming days, where I’ve a few days off, thanks to the Hari Raya holidays.
So till then.. Glory, glory Liverpool FC~
Tags: Champions League, Debrecen FC, Liverpool FC
Liverpool FC Announces New Shirt Sponsor — About time!
Sep 14, 2009 Football
Thank you Standard Chartered! Thank you so much for shirt sponsoring LFC (Liverpool Football Club), and the biggest deal in our history too!
What does this mean? At least in the context of muslim liverpool fas in the region, they don’t have to don the beer logo on their chests while supporting their favourite club from now on. You see, it’s viewed as a taboo or blasphemous situation to be caught as a muslim donning a beer branded shirt on your chest.
But that’s all history now, as Standard Chartered quietly moved in and captured a win-win situation for all.
I have been silently impressed by Standard Chartered’s modus operandi of late, and not just in their business world but also in their customer relationship world, where they have a knack of filling in the glaring void left by other banks. For example, like not requiring a minimum sum in a corporate checking bank account, unlike almost every other banks which will go on to penalise you with a fee for failure to maintain a minimum amount
Still, secretly I do feel a little weird to have the words ‘Standard Chartered’ printed across my chest, as opposed to ‘Carlsberg’ — because as far as branding goes, Carlsberg has that cooler, hipper character to it! As in by now I think everyone knows about that commercial where a group of mountaineers were greeted with a foosball table in the middle of nowhere, or that episode where the group of travellers get checked at what looked like a tense airport situation, only to be welcomed whole heartedly with open arms.
Now, come to Standard Chartered, well it’s a different situation altogether eh?
So how much actually went into Rafa’s coffers/warchest, I’m not too sure but this is definitely a good sign for LFC and their fans — perhaps more spending power will come in January? I’d like to hope so. Exciting times beckon!
Tags: Liverpool FC, Sponsor
