Stevie G Tribute - 100 And Counting...

I'm gonna do a round-up of some of the best goals Steven Gerrard had scored in his 400 odd games at Liverpool...

BUT! It's probably easier to put up all 100 of them here than to pick 10 and call them 'the top 10 Gerrard goals' because so many of them are just sheer beauty and you just can't seemed to rank them up. It's like putting 100 Angelina Jolies in your face and ask you to pick from 1 to 10!

So in no order, we go through the...let's just say...highly important goals that he scored in his Liverpool career.

Starting off with...where he started, with the jersey number 28.


1999-00: vs Sheffield Wednesday

This is where it all started. A familiar rampaging run through the heart of the Sheffield Wed defence. A sign of things to come? Most definitely. How exciting was it then, to watch the young number 28?



2005-06: vs West Ham United (FA Cup Final)

Nobody ever forgets this. This IS the Steven Gerrard final, written all over it. It epitomizes what Gerrard is about. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, pulling Liverpool out of however deep the shit is and a tinge of arrogance in his celebration. 3-2 down and he nicely timed it right on the mark when the stadium announcer blared out how much time was left.

It must have rung in his ears 'this is how little time you have to change it, so why not?' And God, did he let fly an absolute cracker that no Liverpool fans will forget for the next 20 years and more.



2004-05: vs Middlesbrough

I don't want to comment much. Just watch.



2000-01: vs Man United

Nothing better than to score against those scums, eh? And a nice one as well, looping over Fabien Barthez, albeit not that difficult....



2004-05: vs AC Milan (Champions League Final)

Another one that nobody forgets. One of those finals which should be captured in films and sold to Hollywood and outdo any shitty Ben Stiller flick. 3-0 down at half time and nobody gave us a chance. Hell, nobody gave us a chance at the start.

But he came, he saw and he headed in the first of 3 within 6 minutes. I'll always remember those arms flailing in the air and the look of confidence in him. It's as if he knew we were going to win. It's unfair to show just the goal he score so I'll put up the whole video.



2005-06: vs Aston Villa

Cracking goal! Finished with aplomb, just like any of his 'usual' goals and that, is out of this world.



2005-06: vs Everton

Again, it was scored against a bitter rival. Not just that but here, I am running out of speculatives to describe all his goals. Honest...



2007-08: vs Newcastle

A similar freekick to his 100th goal. Outside the box and an absolute thunderbolt. Even Shay Given was made hapless with that kind of shot.



2004-05: vs Olympiakos

The goal that made Andy Gray cream in his pants. 'OWWWW YOU BEAUTY!!' Indeed. If it didn't go in, I don't think we'll make it as far as the Champions League final and winning it. Probably one of the most important and spectacular goals ever scored by the skipper.



2000-01: vs Alaves (UEFA Cup Final)

Sadly, I can't find a video on it. But it speaks volume as a young Steven Gerrard parading his talent on a big stage (it was for Liverpool, back then) and to score in a cup final was pretty good.

Hope that you like it. I don't have time to make it all into a compilation but well, let this post bring you guys back some good memories. Nothing will take away the joy I experienced when Mr. G scored that goal in the FA Cup final.

What about yours?

Milestone Night In Liverpool

Keane Breaks Duck As Liverpool Strolled To Victory

UEFA Champions League

LIVERPOOL 3 -1 PSV Eindhoven

Scorers:
LIV - Kuyt (4min), Keane (34min), Gerrard (76min);
PSV - Koevermans (78min);

It was a memorable night at Anfield even though fans turned up, expecting yet another routine win by Rafa Benitez's boys. A controlled, discipline performance was expected and what we saw last night was exactly that.

But hell, even Robbie Keane scored this time.

The Irishman finally broke his scoring duck of 11 games as he connected with a fantastic Fernando Torres cross and directed it into the bottom right corner of Andreas Isaksson's net. He finally could do his cartwheel celebration but this time, donning the jersey of the club he supported as a boy.

It was one of those nights where your gut feeling just tells you things and it happened. I'm sure everyone's pleased that Keane opened his account in a European night. His quality is proven but it just needed that touch of luck.

Earlier on, he was expecting a penalty as he was brought down by Timmy Simmons but the referee wasn't interested. And we thought it was not going to be his night, again.

Well, let's not forget about another milestone set by a great Liverpool player last night. It's none other than captain Steven Gerrard.

Only the 16th player to carry the honour of scoring 100 goals for Liverpool, Gerrard fired in his 100th with his usual thunderbolt right-in-the-back-of-the-net style. A freekick from 30 yards out didn't stop the skipper from sending out a homing-missile like shot into the net. It was as if the ball itself had in mind where to go.

Beautifully taken.

It was an icing on the cake for Liverpool as they strolled through the game without even moving out of gear 2 and looked comfortable and untroubled throughout. Though the gloss was removed when PSV hit back with a goal that somehow silenced the Kop, it was still a disciplined and controlled performance, just like any other Liverpool games recently.

Scoring early, as I mentioned before, is a boon or bane for clubs and thankfully, Liverpool didn't slip into complacency mode after Dirk Kuyt giving the home side the lead in just under 3 minutes.

How we always said that the Reds were profligate and impotent with cornerkicks, we finally made it work out last night. Gerrard's outswinger, Torres' ingenious movement and Kuyt's followup.

Isaksson should have done better. Looked more a routine save to me than anything. Who knows what might happen if it didn't go in.

But that's not the point. It probably round up a pretty satisfying week for the Liverpool fans as we taught our poorer neighbours, Everton, a good football lesson and getting all 3 points in the Champions League is definitely good news.

In the best start of the season we've seen in quite a while, it remains to be seen how consistent Liverpool can get. But seeing Rafa dropping his usual chop-and-change tactic, there might be a shift of ideology from the Spanish manager.

Probably, he begin to realise the mistake that he has been making for the past few seasons....

Who's 'Respecting' Who?

Remember before the new season started, there was a video circulating, promoting the new 'Respect' campaign put up by the English FA. It was to stamp out abuse against the men in black and how the multi-millionaires should listen and be nice to some part timers.

Indeed, I do not condone players surrounding referees hurling abuses or waving imaginary yellow cards. I hate the fact that every time a player commits a foul, his 'comrades' would suddenly stand up and be counted, literally.

But the latest FA decision puts everything into doubt, especially this 'Respect' campaign. John Terry, the great England captain was sent off. He appealed and yea, it was rescinded. I mean, maybe after viewing the replay for the 100th time gave them the idea that it wasn't a red.

But what is absolutely ridiculous is the fact that Mark Halsey, the referee who dared to sent off the great and mighty England thug captain was 'relegated' and won't be officiating in any of the Premiership game this weekend.

So what was that for?

I saw the replay and God, was John Terry an England football captain or is he plying his trade in a wrong sports? It looked every bit like a rugby tackle as he bundled Man City's Jo down. Mind you, Terry is pretty big size if you aren't aware.

Yes, he wasn't the last man. But that was a cynical foul and I thought that by itself is enough to be given a straight red?

So for daring to make the right decision, Mark Halsey was made to pay for sending Terry off. What a sad state of affair. I urge not only the players but the higher authorities as well, to respect the men in black for their decision and not punish them for doing something right just because they're protecting their crown jewel.

Nobody's above the law? Well your status could always buy you a way out apparently.

Hell Yeah!

The above picture speaks a thousand words, really. Can't remember the last time we beat the scums but well, all hoodoos will be broken sooner or later and in this case, 4 long years after Rafa Benitez took charge.

Wasn't able to watch the game so my dear friend from AnfieldReds.blogspot.com updated me with the live score.

3 minutes in and it's as if the inevitable happens, albeit a little too early. Tevez got ManYoo ahead at Anfield. We who are football fans knows that having a turning point of the game so early in the game could be a boon or even bane for the leading side.

Of course on the hindside, the latter happened as Liverpool completely dominated from then on and we can safely say United bottled it big time. But take nothing away from Liverpool as their hunger and desperation showed throughout and of course, action speaks louder than words. We saw how Mascherano and co. hounded any players in white that has the possession of the ball.

Although all eyes were on Dimitar Berbatov who made his debut for United at Anfield, it was another debutant who caught the fans' eye. It was Albert Riera, who didn't impress anyone including Stuart Pearce during his previous stint at Man City.

But the traditional left winger produced a performance worthy of praise as he weaved past Wes Brown without much trouble and even showed a piece of brilliant skill through a well-timed backheel. His movement and cooperation with Fabio Aurelio was commendable. Seemed like he was around for years.

It was a fantastic results and Rafa will surely want to build on this. But we know how inconsistent Liverpool have been for the past God-knows-how-long so we'll have to see if Liverpool's title credentials are realistic or just another faux pas.

Kuyt Hero

Last Gasp Winner Sends Liverpool Into Champions League

UEFA Champions League Qualifier

LIVERPOOL 1 - 0 Standard Liege

It was yet another insipid performance from Liverpool and no surprises, a last-gasp winner from Dutch striker cum defensive winger, Dirk Kuyt. 3 games in and 3 different heroes. It all reaped the same rewards….Wins for Rafa’s men in Red.

But Liverpool fans must be thinking when will performances such as this end.

Against the Belgian champions, Liverpool once again looked listless and though they did play at a good tempo, the Reds just didn’t look sharp at all and the lack of width is apparent. That must be a real worry as Rafa Benitez will have to come up with a solution as time runs out with the transfer window coming to a close soon.

The partnership of Torres-Keane was once again disappointing and fruitless. Robbie Keane was eventually replaced by Nabil El-Zhar, who once again put up a decent performance on the flank and had a concrete penalty appeal turned down.

Torres looked off-coloured and was kept in American defender, Oguchi Onyewu’s pocket the whole night. His night was epitomized by the attempt to cross which ended straight in the Kop End and out for goal-kick.

Kudos to Standard Liege, who put up a fight and not only were they stoic in defence, their attack also caused Liverpool much trouble, Without Pepe Reina’s heroics, Liverpool would’ve been finished off in that 90 minutes.

Last weekend’s hero, Steven Gerrard, was unable to come up with the usual spectacular style as he too found himself crowded out and spent much of the game as a peripheral figure. Xabi Alonso had some genuine attempts on goal but it was just not good enough.

With Gerrard and Torres unable to weave their usual magic, Liverpool toiled and laboured in vain. There was no penetration from the flanks while the narrowness of their attack made defending so much easier for the away side.

Even with the introduction of Ryan Babel, his usual move of cut-in-and-shoot wasn’t effective. He replaced Yossi Benayoun, who had a torrid time and was largely ineffective.

Yet ironically, it was the 2 wide men who gave Liverpool the win and an estimated 10million GBP windfall. Babel was the architect of the move as he whipped in a powerful left footed cross and another Dutchman was on hand to connect with it and sending the Kopites into raptures.

A huge collective sigh of relief from the home fans as they were already preparing for a nerve-wrecking penalty shootout.

Dirk Kuyt’s goal scoring record was never much mentioned as he isn’t prolific at all but his commitment to the club was never in doubt and if one day Rafa needs him to play in goal, he would.

He was the hero for the day and with that, Liverpool embarked on yet another enthralling journey towards Rome, where the finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League will be held.

The road to glory this season starts with a path that gives the déjà vu feeling plus a tinge of familiarity. Once again, we’re drawn with French giants, Olympique Marseille, and PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.

An interesting team was drawn out from the 4th pot and it was Atletico Madrid, former team of Fernando Torres. We will also welcome back out former heroes in Luis Garcia and Florent Sinama-Pongolle plus world class players such as Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez.

It is indeed an unfavorable draw for Liverpool as on paper, it looks really tough. But I can’t wait to see how the group stages will pan out and the intriguing encounters with Atletico.

The draw will be difficult and put our credentials to the test. But I’m sure the Reds will come through fine.

Champions League Draw:

Grp A
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj

Grp B
Inter
Werder Bremen
Pananthinaikos
Anorthosis Famagusta

Grp C
Barcelona
Sporting
Basel
Shaktar Donetsk

Grp D
LIVERPOOL
Marseille
PSV Eindhoven
Atletico Madrid

Grp E
Man Utd
Villarreal
Celtic
Aalborg

Grp F
Olympique Lyonnais
Bayern Munich
Stueau Bucharest
Fiorentina

Grp G
Arsenal
Porto
Dynamo Kiev
Fernebachce

Grp H
Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit St Petersberg
BATE

Scousers To The Rescue

English Premiership

Liverpool 2 - 1 Middlesbrough

Scorers:
LIV - Carragher (85min), Gerrard (90min+4);
MID - Mido (72min);

Faithful Kopites had to endure yet another eventful roller-coaster ride at Anfield as The Reds saw a match that is mixed with the unexpected and the familiar.

Well, when Liverpool are down and out, the one person they’ll rely on to drag them out of the miry pits would be none other than Steven Gerrard. He scored in the last kick of the game and handling Liverpool all 3 points. That’s familiar. Check.

Liverpool always needed a kick up their bottom before going into full-throttle. Ahmed Mido scored in the 70th minute, punishing the listless and disinterested Liverpool with a fantastic left foot shot which left Pepe Reina hapless. Yet at the end of the 90 minutes (or rather, 94 minutes), it was all joy for Rafa Benitez while all Gareth Southgate could do was to bury his face in his hands. A comeback, that’s familiar. Check!

Surprise of all surprises, though, is seeing Jamie Carragher scoring for Liverpool, at the right end of the pitch. The veteran defender who has played 500 odd games for the Reds had only previously scored 5 goals and his goal-scoring trait, or the lack of, has been made a frequent joke by the fans. A team of Carragher, any one?

Though his goal was rather fortuitous, a deflected shot just outside the penalty box, it still left many fans at Anfield amused yet delighted. There’s probably no greater joy than seeing Carragher scoring at the Kop End. That was all it needs to spark a late Liverpool surge which ultimately underlined the doggedness and character of this Liverpool team.

But the result shouldn’t be a distraction to how disappointing Liverpool looked again. 3 games into the start of the season and it seemed like the men in red didn’t look like they’re anywhere prepared or gelled properly.

Here, patience should be the key, bar a major catastrophe.

The much anticipated partnership of Keane-Torres still didn’t seem to have any sparks but there are some positive points to take note of as they put aside the horror partnership show last week at Stadium of Light and come up with some decent link-up plays and showed basic understanding.

It’s like how you and your partner started off. Before you guys knew you’re meant for each other, you begin with basic friendship were trust is built and both of you trying to work out on the area of communication.

Still early days for Robbie Keane but he does need to produce soon due to the heavy price tag and the huge expectation.



Elsewhere, take nothing away from Middlesbrough and their stoic defence. They have always been a pain in the a*$ for the ‘Big 4’ teams as they seemed to be always driven and motivated to steal points and break momentum.

The only reason why nobody really fancies them to break into the ‘Upper 6’ would be that they fail to bring the drive and passion into games against seemingly inferior opponents. They could very well beat Man Utd on their day but would lose to Wigan next.

Arriving at Anfield, Southgate had a game plan set and it was to frustrate Liverpool and at the same time, tries to steal a goal and watch them collapse. It worked… half of it actually.

They limited Liverpool to only a few chances, with Kuyt coming closest to scoring. The Dutch striker has been deployed in an unconventional right-wing role and looked lost at sea most of the time. Shame.

Without a proper left winger, Rafa resorted with using Yossi Benayoun and however talented the Israeli playmaker can be, he’s still more effective on the right and his constant cutting in narrows down the formation. He did leave more spaces for Andrea Dossena to run into but the Italian defender didn’t look particularly comfortable going forward. A benefit of doubt there, maybe he’s still trying to find his feet.

Last game’s hero, Xabi Alonso, was this game’s zero as he saw the game passed him by and his mistake ultimately led to Mido’s goal. He didn’t seem to be able to cope with the pace of the game and his partnership with Gerrard in the middle of the park failed to produce any spark.

Maybe Mascherano is more pivotal to the Liverpool side than we initially thought. His absence so far has destabilized the Reds a little and with the Olympic gold medal in hand, he should return to England with a fine spirit and renewed hunger.



Despite all the shortcomings, Liverpool still managed to grab all 3 points with the help of the 2 local heroes. Depending on which coloured specs you’re wearing, you could see it either as a warning to Liverpool or them playing like Champions.

We know how Chelsea and Man Utd won the league titles in past years. Play badly but win ugly. Yet I do not expect Liverpool to play at such level for long as they really do need to pick up the tempo and begin to build momentum. This is a marathon and so far, the start has been good on paper.

But they need to look good on eye to appease us as well!

So Is McClaren.....

The Joker in disguise?

Well, there are more. Just not football related but if you guys persuade enough maybe I'll put them on. Heh!

Some Opta Stats I've Found

Was browsing through the net for some interesting statistics and here is what I've found:

Opposition shots on target allowed

Liverpool 90
Chelsea 121
Arsenal 128
Manchester United 130
Everton 132
Aston Villa 147
Middlesbrough 157
Sunderland 159
Wigan Athletic 161
Tottenham Hotspur 172
West Ham United 174
Bolton Wanderers 175
Blackburn Rovers 177
Portsmouth 191
Newcastle United 192
Manchester City 200
Fulham 202
Birmingham City 214
Reading 223
Derby County 236


This was taken from the whole of last season and we can see that Rafa's tactics is really about closing opponents down and limiting them to as few chances as possible. Well, easier said than done, isn't it? For all of Chelsea's organised and 'world-class' mercenaries, allowed 34% more shots on goal.

It's surprising because Liverpool seldom 'park the bus' in front of the goal and with so much emphasis on attack last season, it is really surprised to see this piece of statistic. Of course, this superiority didn't count in our 'Goals Conceded' column as we indeed, conceded more than Chelsea.

Here are more for your information:

Goals to shots ratio

Aston Villa 17.57%
Arsenal 15.64%
Tottenham Hotspur 15.53%
Everton 15.24%
Manchester United 14.63%
Birmingham City 14.60%
Chelsea 14.32%
Manchester City 13.93%
Newcastle United 12.53%
Liverpool 12.52%
Reading 12.35%
Middlesbrough 12.25%
Blackburn Rovers 11.88%
Portsmouth 11.68%
West Ham United 10.97%
Bolton Wanderers 10.62%
Fulham 10.35%
Sunderland 10.06%
Wigan Athletic 9.37%
Derby County 6.94%


Shooting accuracy

Manchester United 47.53%
Everton 46.81%
Tottenham Hotspur 46.12%
Birmingham City 45.40%
Aston Villa 44.80%
Manchester City 44.27%
Arsenal 43.97%
Bolton Wanderers 43.95%
Blackburn Rovers 43.94%
Chelsea 43.83%
Middlesbrough 43.02%
Newcastle United 42.90%
Fulham 41.96%
Derby County 40.28%
Liverpool 40.00%
West Ham United 39.95%
Reading 39.76%
Portsmouth 38.93%
Wigan Athletic 38.84%
Sunderland 38.27%

Second Season Syndrome? Not For Torres

Fernando Torres Magic Seals Opening Win

English Premiership

Sunderland 0 -1 Liverpool

Video:

As Fernando Torres and his fellow Liverpool players stepped out of the Stadium of Light for the opening fixture against Sunderland, fans of the Reds will be hoping that Torres will once again be Liverpool's hero while the skeptics will be rubbing their hand in glee as they expect the Spanish hotshot to show the symptoms of the 'Second Season Syndrome (SSS)'.


Well, that's something which most fans are familiar with, seeing the likes of Marcus Stewart and Sunderland's very own Kevin Philips having the season of their lives before faltering away in their next campaign.

Torres came to England with a reputation and prolific in scoring is anything but. In his Athletico days, he wasted far too many chances and was dubbed as a profligate. But his first season at Anfield was a revelation and though he didn't set the world alight at the European Championship, he scored the most imporant goal that gave Spain their first ever taste of success in the competition since God knows when.


Despite his vast improvement as a player, doubtors are still around to put him down and suspected that he will not have an easy 2nd season in England, with defenders knowing him inside out finally.

Well, they're probably half-right.

Torres, thought didn't contribute much to the game, came up with an absolute cracker to give Liverpool all 3 points in their opening game. As the commentator summed it up perfectly, that was the only significant thing he did the whole game and it's just the one that counts at the end of the day.

Without a shadow of doubt, that is a making of a legend and I'm definitely not hyping this up. You don't expect players to perform at their best game in, game out but all you need is a little bit of sharpness and effectiveness. Torres showed just that.

Rafa Benitez would be relieved to see his side claim all 3 points as Liverpool, who looked uninterested at times, huffed and puffed their way to the finishing line. Without the magical touch of Torres and the much needed introduction of Xabi Alonso, it would've been just another away game for Liverpool, like how they used to do it all the time.

The first half was exactly how Liverpool looked like they were all of last season in their away fixtures. Passive, lacking the drive and energy and most of all, lack of urgency. It looked like there was no cohesion in the team and the passing was absolutely dreadful.

With Carragher and Dossena punting long balls ahead for Torres and Keane, the strikeforce is always going to be second best and until the last 10 minutes of the first period, Liverpool failed to sustain any sort of pressure or getting any sort of momentum.

Sunderland on the other hand, were aggressive and looked more likely to get any breakthrough. They played some lovely football with Steed Malbranque displaying some of his nifty touches and Richardson troubling Alvaro Arbeloa with his direct running.

12 minutes in and Sunderland nearly took the lead through Daryl Murphy but the gigantic striker failed to gather enough power or direction to beat Pepe Reina. That was a warning sign for Liverpool but the visitors failed to wake up.

Yet it was the introduction of Xabi Alonso at half time that was pivotal and turned the game around indirectly. He dictated the tempo of the game well and Liverpool finally looked to have got the upper hand.

Yet it seeemd as though it wasn't going to be Liverpool's afternoon as a Dirk Kuyt's strike was fumbled away by Craig Gordon and just as Torres was about to follow up, Robbie Keane was at the wrong place at the wrong time and the duo that was supposed to form a strike partnership, got into each other's way.

The Liverpool record signing of this summer was subdued and as space in and around the Sunderland defence was premium, he was left isolated and Nyron Nosworthy kept him quiet throughout. He was eventually replaced by Nabil El-Zhar.

Yet Liverpool believed and poured men forward. Xabi Alonso nearly caught Gordon out with an audacious shot from the half-way line. Reminsce of goals against Newcastle and Luton emerged.

Just right after that, Torres came out of the shadow and totally silenced the Sunderland faithfuls with a peach of a strike. He received the ball just outside the penalty area and with much confidence, he let fly and it went to the bottom right of Gordon's goal.

Totally unsavable.

It was just a show of his class and the midas touch of his. You could tell that he's totally delighted with that strike and probably deep down, he's glad he scored in the first game. He'll of course hope that he'll keep this momentum going.



Not the most beautiful display of football but the Liverpool fans should be happy with the 3 points. But they should be slightly worried with the performance in the first half as they looked totally toothless and clueless.

Most importantly, it'll be interesting to see how the Keane-Torres partnership will forge in the coming months after that 'miscommunication'. Here's hoping that it's just a minor hiccup and as the season goes on, they'll gel and form a deadly strikeforce. The sooner, the better of course.

Respect The Refs!

The English FA have just started a program called 'Respect' and it's aimed to improve the relations between players and the men in black as well as clearing the misunderstanding of referees. Here's the advertisement:



Didn't expect Capello to turn up, eh?