Bleacher Report - Articles by Danny Elliott

Rafael Benitez and Liverpool

Danny Elliott — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:36:20 -0500

This is breaking a golden rule of Journalsim but I’m not entirely sure where this post is going to go.

I’m sure we’ll see.

I love Rafael Benitez.

The man is a legend. He was extremely successful with Valencia, winning a couple of league titles against the might of Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as a UEFA Cup.

He then came to Liverpool and won the Champions League in his first season, the FA Cup the year after, lost in the final of the Champions League the year after that and finished 2nd (oh, so close) to Manchester United last year.

I know there have been no trophies for a while, but his stature is undiminished in my eyes.

There have always been doubters.

I had a chat with a guy about 18 months ago who challenged me to, “Name one player from the team now who would’ve got into the Istanbul team apart from Torres.”

Phew! At least he admitted that Torres was at least slightly better than Milan Baros!

I proceeded to compare Reina with Dudek, Kuyt with Kewell, Traore with…anyone!

The Istanbul line up went like this: Dudek, Finnan, Traore, Hyypia, Carragher, Garcia, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard, Kewell, Baros. Smicer, Cisse and Hamaan, who should’ve started, all came on and the bench featured such genius’ as Biscan and Josemi.

That team was from the end of Benitez’s first season, after adding Alonso and Garcia, as well as Cisse though he was a Houllier buy, and getting rid of Michael Owen. It is a terribly poor team and an equally poor squad.

Despite the fact that we won the Champions League that season, we relied on Neil Mellor during the festive period and Salif Diao made appearances in a red shirt!

Atrocious.

Benitez has improved the first team by ten, twenty nay, a hundred fold.

It is still not quite good enough, especially after losing Alonso (who, may I add, Benitez tried to sell last summer after two terrible seasons; I barely remember a voice of discontent, and Barry was being hailed as the new hero) but we have got Aquilani who should hopefully be immense and added Johnson.

This whole debate moved me to analyse FourFourTwo ’s list of the ‘100 Best Players in the World’ more closely.

Though the list is arguable, indeed it is compiled to provoke debate, they put Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at 7 and 6 respectively.

To have 2 players in the top ten is comparable with the great teams in Europe. Real Madrid have Kaka and Ronaldo at 8 and 2 while Barcelona have Xavi and Iniesta at 3 (a tie? Idiots) and Messi at number 1.

All fair enough. Torres was at 3 last year but was injured for much of last season while Gerrard moved from number ten. I personally think that both are better than David Villa at 5 and Xavi but that is personal opinion.

But when you look at the entire top 100, which is harder to argue against as most of the players deserve their place somewhere in here, Liverpool fare terribly. Of the other teams who have a top ten player, Real Madrid have the most in the whole list with eleven, Barcelona and Inter Milan have 9 each and Manchester United have 7.

Liverpool have only 4 players in the list, Reina and Mascherano are the others, while Valencia have only 2.

That is where Liverpol fall down.

Chelsea have no players in the top ten, but have 8 in the top fifty and eleven over all.

Their team strength and squad depth are what makes them so good.

Again, it could be argued that Aquilani could be in the top 100, and perhaps he will be next year, and I genuinely think that Glen Johnson has done enough to enter the list.

Comparisons are often made between the spending of the big clubs since Benitez, and therefore Mourinho, came into the Premier League.

However, that comparison is futile and, in fact, silly. Why? Because Chelsea have unlimited funds, Arsene Wenger is the best transfer dealer in the world, and most importantly, Alex Ferguson had the best part of 20 years to mould and shape an entire corporation into his likeness before Benitez entered the scene.

Benitez was starting from scratch- OK not quite, Gerrard and Carragher were a good platform.

Benitez was starting from crap—undeniable, remember the Istanbul team and Traore—a very important point.

I don’t think I could put it quite as well as Paul Tomkins did in his liverpoolfc.tv column in March. Please read it separately as it is exceptionally illuminating and completely true.

So, back to Rafael Benitez right now.

Will he get sacked?

Maybe.

But that would be stupid. We would spend at least £25M sacking and hiring managers, and whoever came in would have to do the same job as Benitez will if given the chance.

And don’t cry and say “he’s had five years/enough chances” because the job is this—carry on building.

Carry on building the team and the squad. There is nothing else for it.

I believe that, if Benitez is kept and the boardroom antics stop, Liverpool will win the league and Benitez will have built a platform, similar to that built by Ferguson at United, for a dynasty to rise from.

Or a “bastion of invincibility” as someone else said!

Remember, Ferguson took over United in November ‘86 and didn’t win his first league title till May ‘93.

That’s seven seasons!

Rafael Benitez is only in his sixth.

Plenty of time left for a League Title.

What Did They Do Before The Internet?

Danny Elliott — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:40:16 -0400

I was thinking about the Internet earlier and the massive potential to ‘waste time’.

Well, I don’t really mean waste time.

Who can honestly say they haven’t gone on to YouTube for five minutes only to find themselves absorbed in a clip about fainting goats two hours later? Or haven’t taken two minutes to check a source (if you can call wikipedia that) for an impending deadline only hear a strange voice in your head saying, ‘Yea. It would be great to know who the WWF Hardcore Champion was at Wrestlemania 2000.’

OK then, maybe that’s just me.

But I’m sure, as you are reading one of these new-fangled weblogs, you know what I mean.

And who would dare call it time wasting? I have gleaned countless bits of completely irrelevant and utterly nerdy facts whilst doing so. I would go so far as to say it is a hobby of mine.

It was only on Monday that, thanks to something Dougie, one of my Lecturers said, I found myself reading a ‘list of assets owned by News Corporation’. From there, I moved on to Disney and the Time Warner.

Without the internet, I would not have found out that Rupert Murdoch owns 20th Century Fox, Searchlight Pictures, MySpace, Harper Collins and the whole of Australia. That adds to the knowledge I already had about him and therefore enlightens me further. ‘Time wasting’ on the internet has gone towards me passing one of my modules.

However, there is a dark secret that many Englishmen would love to keep from you.

They had this pleasure long before you did.

In fact, they had this pleasure long before anyone did.

Many Englishmen have been able to waste glorious time for 146 years.

And they’re all cricket fans.

Allow me to reproduce part of an article which was written by Rowland Ryder in 1995. It was titled, ‘The Pleasures of Reading Wisden.’

“The chief joy of reading Wisden is also the chief snare – once you have picked up a copy you cannot put it down. How many wives have become grass-widowed on account of the limp-covered, yellow-backed magician it is impossible to say. If a teasing problem crops up – when was W.G.’s birthday? Who captained the Australians in 1909? Who won the championship in 1961? – then ‘I won’t be a minute,’ says the cricket enthusiast, ‘I’ll just look it up in Wisden‘, and he disappears in search of his treasures. And of course he isn’t a minute: he may be away for an hour or for the rest of the day. He may even never return.

There is one thing that you can be quite certain of in ‘looking it up in Wisden‘ and that is that you will pick up a whole miscellany of information before you find the thing you have been looking for.

Suppose, for instance, that you want to look up the match between Kent and Derbyshire at Folkestone in 1963. You pick up your Wisden for 1964, open it up at random, believeing firmly that the problem will be solved in a matter of seconds, and you find yourself confronted with a Lancashire-Yorkshire match at Old Trafford.

The result is a draw. Forgetting now altogether about Kent and Derbyshire at Folkestone, you next turn up the Table of Main Contents to see if you can find out how Yorkshire and Lancashire have fared over the years in their Roses battles. On skimming down the Table of Contents, however, you come across a heading about Test Cricketers (1877-1963). This immediately starts you off on a new track, and you turn to the appropriate section to find how man cricketers have played for their country. The names Clay, Close, Coldwell, Compton, Cook, Copson leap up at you from the printed page: memories of past Test matches dance in bright kaleidoscopic colours before you. Wisden you feel, is as exciting as a Buchan thriller. The word ‘Buchan’ leads logically enough to Midwinter.

Midwinter – of course! – now, didn’t he play for England v. Australia, and also for Australia v. England. Research confirms that such was indeed the case. You look him up in Births and Deaths; but this entails searching an earlier edition. At random you select the issue for 1910; and sailing purposefully past an offer on page 3 of a free sample of Oatine (for Men after Shaving) you find that Midwinter, W.E., was also a regular player for Gloucestershire and for Victoria. Meanwhile you have hit upon another Test-match series.

In the first of this series of Tests England were trying out a twenty-six-year old opening batsman named Hobbs (Cambridgeshire and Surrey). He made a duck in his first innings, but did better in the second. ‘England wanted 105 to win, and as it happened, Hobbs and Fry hit off the runs in an hour and a half without being seperated.’

There are now two tracks that lie ahead. You can follow the Australians on their tour, to find that they won the Ashes but came close to defeat against Sussex and Somerset, and also played some unusual sides – Western Union (Scotland), South Wales, two rain-ridden draws against combined Yorkshire and Lancashire elevens, and, towards the end or the tour, Mr Bamford’s eleven at Uttoxeter. The other track, of course, is the golden trail of the Master’s 197 centuries.

Wisden’s attractions are endless.”

Aren’t you jealous? Cricket lovers have been enjoying this thrill for years.

Most of my own collection of Wisden’s (I have 15) are at home but I have brought the 145th edition from 2008 to Glasgow with me. It has pride of place on my book shelf.

Now when that book is exhausted, and I do mean the book for I shall never be exhausted from reading Wisden, what then?

Well thankfully Wisden have taken pity on all who missed out and have their whole collection online at cricinfo.com.

For the modern ‘reader’ who knows the sound of typing more than the feel of an old book, it may just be perfect for a good spot of ‘time wasting’.

Extract taken from The Picador Book of Cricket.

Liverpool 6-1 Hull City: Torres On Top As Hull Have a Horror

Danny Elliott — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:46:36 -0400

Liverpool made a statement to their rivals this afternoon as they hammered Hull at Anfield.

On the day when Chelsea dropped their first points of the season, Liverpool were able to make up some of the ground they lost earlier in the season after Fernando Torres scored a sensational hat-trick, his fourth for the club, to guide his team to a win.

Liverpool were then able to make the result resounding with three more goals, though in truth Hull had to completely capitulate before 'The Reds' were able to control the game.

Torres almost got himself on the score-sheet before 60 seconds had passed after Gerrard had played him through but Baoaz Myhill, Hull's goalkeeper, managed to get to the ball before the Spaniard for the only time in the game.

The Liverpool faithful only had ten minutes to wait before 'El Nino' did open the scoring. Insua and Riera linked up on the left hand side and when the ball came in to Torres, he cushioned the ball beautifully with his right foot.

Ibrahim Sonko, the Hull defender clearly thought Torres would try and keep the ball on his right side but, yet again, the number nine showed a turn of pace that caught everyone off guard and hit the ball across the keeper with his weaker foot.

Geovanni equalised for Hull a couple of minutes later after Martin Skrtel's attempt to head the ball clear failed and dropped perfectly for the Brazilian, who volleyed emphatically into the goal.

Unfortunately for Phil Brown, that was as good as it got for his team. Torres scored again before half time after Yossi Benayoun put him through with a delicate pass. Torres cut back onto his left side again and, after rounding both the sliding defender and Myhill, he tapped the ball into an empty net.

The Spaniard completed his hat-trick early in the second half after Benayoun again put him through with only the keeper to beat. Instead of attempting a shot with his right foot, as everyone expected, Torres turned inside and managed to get the ball between Paul McShane's legs.

Despite the final scoreline, Liverpool looked lethargic throughout the first hour and weren't able to set the tempo of the game. Their passing was poor and was epitomized by a substandard performance from Steven Gerrard.

The captain wasn't totally without mention though as he scored a fantastic goal; if he meant it. He had whipped a corner into the box but the clearance only reached Insua on the left hand side.

The Argentinian passed the ball on to Gerrard who was in line with the edge of the penalty area but out on the touchline. His shot curled into the net after hitting the underside of the bar. It will be interesting to see if the Scouser calls it lucky for, if not, it was certainly genius.

Rafael Benitez looked to the week ahead and, with a couple of tough fixtures against Fiorentina and Chelsea, decided to withdraw his three best performers of the season so far - Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun.

Babel was the substitute able to make the biggest impact as he wrapped up the win with two more goals from the bench.

His first was an easy finish, but he had made the chance himself after a neat ball through to Kuyt and a quick turn away for his marker gave him enough space for his compatriot to find him in the first place.

His second was very lucky as Albert Riera, a constant threat down the left side all afternoon along with Insua, shot, only for it to hit Babel's heel and loop over the miserable Myhill.

Liverpool could have scored many more in the last 10 minutes. Hull looked completely broken and their performance was summed up by that of Sonko who looked uncomfortable with Torres all afternoon and constantly made mistakes.

Riera, Lucas, Johnson and Voronin could all have humiliated Hull further but none quite managed to find the target.

Brown was never expected to win this game, but the manner of the result will only add to the pressure he is already under.

Benitez, on the other hand, will feel that this is the perfect start to a week that may well set the agenda for the rest of Liverpool's season.

Danny Elliott's MOTM: Fernando Torres

Liverpool Fans Must Free Lucas Leiva: The Reds' Most Hated Player

Danny Elliott — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:14:38 -0400

It is 25 years since Jerry Dammers wrote his most famous song.

He chose to record and release it with his band, The Special A.K.A, who were ironically from Coventry, a city synonymous with captivity!

'Free Nelson Mandela' became a massive hit and was adopted by many as an anthem for more than just anti-apartheid groups.

Mandela was indeed freed in February 1990 and went on to become President of South Africa as well as an icon across the globe.

Somehow, this brings me on to Lucas Leiva.

And not just because his name fits neatly into the song in place of Nelson's.

Liverpool bought Lucas Leiva in the summer of 2007 and he has played 78 first team games since.

My problem is that Liverpool fans hate him.

He is a figure of derision. Some liken him to Igor Biscan without the comedy.

Every mistake, however small, is met with groaning (best case scenario) or even jeering. He is berated incessantly and unceasingly.

To be honest, my problem isn't that people hate him, it's more that they want to hate him.

I think a lot of Liverpool fans want Lucas to fail.

How ridiculous! I mean, I hated Djibril Cisse but I genuinely wanted him, and thus Liverpool, to succeed. If he scored I was as jubilant as I would have been had Gerrard or Fowler scored.

Let me elaborate the point.

I have a good mate and our relationship is unblemished. I don't think we've ever had a disagreement before.

The following conversation took place at a BBQ the day after Liverpool lost their opening weekend clash with Spurs.

"Alright lad. You see the Liverpool game?"

"Yes mate. Gutted. How bad was Lucas?"

"What?!"

"It was all his fault. He didn't make a single pass and offered nothing going forward."

"Shut up yeh' idiot. [He interjects with a serious 'Genuinely.'] Anyway, Gerrard was crap. he was very sloppy in the first half which is why we started so badly. Carragher looks past it [Maybe a slight overreaction on my part!] and Torres didn't do anything though I know he didn't get the ball. I thought Rafa should've taken off Mascherano instead of Lucas actually. He looked more likely to impact going forward."

"No mate. Seriously Lucas is the worst player I've ev..."

"Hang on a minute...Babel started yesterday. Why the flippin' heck are you having a go at Lucas when Babel, who I might add hasn't got an ounce of footballing nous in..."

Let us leave the conversation there. Suffice to say we argued, raised our voices, caused a scene and, the next time we met, said 'Hi' very, very sheepishly.

That is the sort of reaction Lucas evokes though.

I only know three or four other Liverpool fans who like the lad.

Need I remind you that he won the Brazilian Player of the Year (OK, the Bola de Ouro, I am a nerd) while still a teenager. Could I also say that he is the youngest ever winner of this award with previous recipients including Pele, Romario and Kaka.

Gremio also won the State Championship and came third in the National Championship while, internationally, Lucas captained Brazil U20s to a South American Championship win and scored four goals on the way.

Oh, right. So he has something...maybe.

He also starred for his club side in their 2007 Copa Libertadores campaign. They got to the final.

And if I can, I'd love to point out that Dunga has picked him for Brazil three times.

And (sorry, last one I promise) he has an Olympic bronze medal.

So you can all just...shut up!

Seriously, you all think that he's rubbish?

I know he hasn't always helped himself. I was annoyed when he got sent off against Everton and I was livid when he gave away the free kick that Wigan went on to equalise with because I had paid £30 in the vain hope of seeing Liverpool win.

However, last year, he was always filling in for either Gerrard, the best attacking midfielder in the world, Mascherano, one of the top two defensive midfielders in the world or Alonso, in the top three 'orchestrative midfielders' in the world.

Give the lad a break.

He clearly has something.

I think he needs to find, or be given, a specific role to perform. He also needs confidence.

And it's hard to be confident when 40,000 people are willing you to fail, especially when they are supposed to be your 'fans'!

So please, free Lucas Leiva. Allow him to perform. More importantly, want him to perform.

And remember if you just need to moan about someone, you can always pick on Ryan Babel.

Liverpool-Real Madrid: A Kopite's View

Danny Elliott — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:50:11 -0400

This article was first published on the Official Liverpool Website, www.liverpoolfc.tv.

Please check it out for all your Liverpool news.

How stupid am I?

In order for you to answer that question, preferably on a postcard marked "Idiot", I need to take you back to the summer. It was a warm night (can you remember them?) and I was at 'The Coffee House' in Wavertree, trying to decide.

The options were right there, staring me in the face. They were taunting me, laughing at me.

Domestic success or European glory?

'Money doesn't grow on trees' is how the saying goes, but I can think of another one which is far more relevant to the average football fan. 'When you have to choose what Auto Cup Ticket Scheme to go for, you always end up making the wrong decision.'

Not quite as catchy I admit, but I think you can see where I'm going with this. I couldn't afford them both.

So I made a choice based on the information I had available at the time.

Can you remember what happened the last time you heard someone say that?!

As I slept on that fateful summer night I dreamt of the 1st March and the 30th May. I would be there, at Wembley, for the League and FA Cup Finals.

Obviously I was dreaming mainly about an FA Cup win. I was pointing and laughing at the 'eternal optimists' who would be there, complaining about the noise the Barcelona fans made after their team had beaten Inter Milan on the Wednesday.

“Rome,” I thought. “No chance of us going there again!”

Don't get me wrong, I wanted the team to do well in the Champions League, but I had to make a choice based on the inform...

I think you get the idea.

So, I'll ask you that question again.

How stupid am I?

It's not like you need any more evidence but I think it's appropriate to say that, in order to offset our eventual Cup losses and make a start at repairing my tattered Wembley dreams, I've been to two away games this season as well.

Wigan and Middlesbrough.

It's fair to say that you should avoid any extra-Season Ticket games I go to.

Avoid them as you would a dark alley which you have seen both Stig Tofting and Thomas Gravesen walk down immediately after a Denmark defeat.

I digress. Upwards and onwards to Madrid.

As sad as I am about not being at Anfield on Tuesday, I can't wait for the game.

When the draw was made Real Madrid were languishing behind Barcelona, a gap which eventually became as big as 12 points—while we were leading the Premiership and had beaten both of our closest rivals.

The fact that we now sit seven points behind United, while the team from the Spanish capital have risen to second place and lie just four points behind the Catalan club, highlights the difference in performance between the two since UEFA paired us together.

Despite recent form, Liverpool managed to leave the Santiago Bernabeu with a precious one goal lead.

To do so with an injured Fernando Torres and without Steven Gerrard starting the game simply made it better.

Benayoun, who I think has been fantastic since the beginning of December when he grabbed a vital goal against Blackburn at Ewood Park, again deputised for Gerrard brilliantly.

And to clarify, a deputy doesn't always need to fill the same position as his superior but does need to perform the same role. In the first leg, Benayoun's role was simple—he made a difference.

Surely that is the role our skipper so often takes on? So, as I say, he deputised brilliantly for Gerrard.

Alonso sprayed the ball around effortlessly while Fabio Aurelio, who assisted Yossi for Liverpool's goal, put in another fantastic performance.

Throughout February the Brazilian has been sensational, scoring a vital goal at Portsmouth, where he played in the centre of midfield, and setting up a couple of others including Torres' first against Chelsea.

Our back four were also rock solid and I can't remember any particularly hairy moments except a rocket from Arjen Robben.

Skrtel and Carragher, looked unbeatable but the whole team and the manager deserve praise for keeping a clean sheet against a team who had struck six past Real Betis in their previous game, all before half-time.

It was Liverpool's fifth shut-out in Champions League knock-out round away games under Benitez.

As we have played 11 such games in Europe's premier club competition, and have progressed to the next round on each of the previous four occasions, we should celebrate Rafa's tactical nous and be confident that we can finish the job off at Anfield.

However, I believe that Madrid made one massive mistake against Liverpool in the first leg.

They showed us too much respect.

By starting Gago, Diarra and Marcelo in midfield—two defensive midfielders and a full-back—they gave up the initiative before the game had even begun. Their bench contained Guti who came on, as well as Saviola, Sneijder and Van der Vaart, who didn't.

Whilst I berate Juande Ramos for showing the Reds too much respect, I don't want to be accused of showing a lack of respect to 'Los Merengues' (I learnt that on Football Manager).

I just know that, when I saw the Madrid line-up, I was happy to see a midfield containing one Dutchman, rather than three and I'm sure the team were too.

Perhaps 'respect' isn't quite the right word.

I know the Liverpool staff and players respect the Spaniards, their achievements demand that, but Benitez mustn't allow it to affect either his team-sheet or game-plan.

We must start on Tuesday as we did against Juventus in 2005. The intensity with which we played that night took the Italians by surprise and we were 2-0 up within 25 minutes. We started the semi-final home leg similarly that season too, and Luis Garcia's fourth minute goal ended up taking us to Istanbul.

We cannot afford to let Madrid settle, give them time on the ball or space with which to work it. I suspect we will see more than one Dutchman start at Anfield and we must hassle them relentlessly, knowing that a more attacking team will also provide us with opportunities to finish the game off.

I want Liverpool to, hope they can and think they will, win, but cannot guarantee the outcome.

What I can guarantee though is that Anfield will be bouncing whether Fernando Torres plays or not.

Can you imagine the noise in the Madrid derby this Saturday as 75,634 fans attempt to make a din which will lead to the defeat of Atletico?

The Spaniards are used to big crowds and loud noise but they have never in their entire history experienced the Anfield atmosphere.

If you are going to the game on Tuesday, appreciate seeing Real Madrid at Anfield but make such an atmosphere that will be talked about for years.

Make Madrid surrender.

But, before you get to the ground and if you walk up Utting Avenue, look out for a fella with 'Fowler' on the back of his shirt, a desperate look on his face, a cry of, “Any spares mate?” and have a heart.

I would really appreciate it!

Who Will Challenge Manchester United? Crunch Time for Liverpool and Chelsea

Danny Elliott — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:35:51 -0500

Manchester United are at the top of the Premier League and, with a game in hand, look to be the team to beat. This weekend, Liverpool and Chelsea play each other for the right to be United's main challenger.

The last time the teams met, at Stamford Bridge in October, Liverpool ran out 1-0 winners after a deflected shot from Xabi Alonso ended up being the only goal of the game.

The three points gained from that match took Liverpool to the top of the league, ahead of their London rivals. Manchester United have since been in fine form and have usurped both teams to become favourites for the title.

However, on Sunday, neither Liverpool nor Chelsea will be thinking about anything but the game at hand. Both teams can hugely dent the others chances by beating them, especially if Aston Villa can beat Wigan. The loser will end the weekend in fourth position.

Liverpool and Chelsea haven't frequented each other quite as much as they did when Mourinho was in charge at Stamford Bridge; he led Chelsea against their Merseyside rivals 16 times—an incredible number when you remember he was in charge for a little over three seasons.

The edge in the games between these teams, which was lacking when Avram Grant managed, and since Phil Scolari took over, may return on Sunday.

Benitez and Scolari, the two current bosses, have both encountered criticism this season. Rafa used his press conference today to remind the world that, "If we win against Chelsea, it will be different," when asked how he was dealing with the opinions being expressed about him.

One feels that both Benitez and Scolari will be free from any negative comment if their team wins at Anfield.

Some feel United will win the Premiership this year and are still a few months from becoming 'undisputed' champions.

With that title still to be decided, at least this weekend we will discover who will be the No. 1 contender for the remainder of the season.

Lacklustre Liverpool Stall Again, But Is It Rafa's Fault?

Danny Elliott — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:53:01 -0500

Let me analogize for a moment.

Liverpool shifted through their gears from the start of the season. Yes, they had a few "lucky" results coming from behind to score last minute winners but to be top of the league at the turn of the year showed they were accelerating well.

Accelerating.

They hadn't even reached top speed. Keane hadn't really got going and Torres' injuries had limited his opportunities. The road ahead looked smooth.

However, they had to negotiate a tricky junction consisting of two derbies, a tough away game and a clash against Chelsea. They were caught in the wrong lane against Stoke before they had even reached the junction.

And then they stalled.

Three times.

Liverpool are now third in the League as Manchester United and then Chelsea, laughing as they did it, cruised past Liverpool in the League. Three draws in a row, albeit with one coming in the FA Cup, have stalled Liverpool's entire season.

I have been fortunate enough to attend both Merseyside Derbies as well as tonight's game against Wigan. I hope to see Liverpool beat Chelsea on Sunday at Anfield too.

Before I contemplate their next game though, I need to decide something; Who is to blame for our stuttering form at the minute?

Liverpool started tonight with a very positive lineup, especially when the matches this game was sandwiched between are taken into consideration. While Rafael Benitez is being blamed by fans and pundits alike, he resisted the temptation to "rotate" and played with both Gerrard and Torres on the pitch at the beginning of the game.

However, neither were there at the end. That is what upsets the fans. That the manager makes 'negative' substitutions and is happy to "defend a one goal lead" rather than push for more goals.

Tonight I would like to defend Benitez in all but one of his decisions. He started with a far stronger team than I thought he would have. Of the players he brought in, both Benayoun and Lucas had good games (if you have watched the MOTD highlights, you will not have seen anything of Lucas' good game but I thought he played fairly well).

Babel looked low in confidence, though the only times he tried to run with the ball, he breezed past Melchiot.

Though Torres and Gerrard were retained both were largely ineffective. I personally would have started with Riera on the left rather than Babel, especially as he didn't start on Sunday. That aside, I thought Benitez sent out a strong team which was full of talent and, with respect, well capable of beating Wigan.

From there, the team were poor. Blame must be put at the door of the men on the pitch. Benayoun's goal was the one real bright spot in a lame first half with Torres hitting the post from a header earlier. Liverpool had no ideas. The goal was the only time anyone got behind the defence.

Wigan's performance was worth the point they gained, though they were never put under any real pressure, even after going one goal down. Mido looked busy throughout and their other new signing, Rodallega, hit the bar to be robbed of the chance to score a last gasp winner on his debut.

Torres was brought off; a good move as he looked legless for the last twenty minutes on Sunday afternoon and will be needed on Sunday. The only decision I would disagree with Rafa on is that of bringing Gerrard off as soon as Wigan had equalised. The 'rest' Gerrard got for seven minutes was hardly worth the advantage it will give him through the rest of the season as, even when not playing well, he can change a game in a moment.

Despite that, the team must face up to the fact that they performed far from their best tonight. It seems to me that they struggle to create chances once they have moved the ball into an attacking position. The readiness of the "wingers" to constantly pass back to the full backs, who in turn rarely make an effort to overlap their teammates, is disturbing.

Liverpool have a tradition of great wide play coming from greats such as Billy Liddell and Steve Heighway while Dirk Kuyt, who undoubtedly possesses many qualities, has no real quality.

Liverpool drew tonight, for the fourth game in a row and with a tight game against Chelsea coming up, that run may well continue.

While the press will make sure that people really do think "Rafa's cracking up," I want to challenge the players to beat Chelsea on Sunday.

If they do, Liverpool will make it across the junction to continue their journey and, though some damage has been done along the way, we may yet see Liverpool race through the gears and accelerate down to the finish line to win the title race.

Apologies for the analogy.

Premier League Title Chase Starts Now

Danny Elliott — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:17:43 -0500

It may seem strange, but I can't help feeling that the Premiership hasn't really started yet.

Despite the fact that all but two teams have played 11 games, we still don't have an unequivocal leader with both Chelsea and Liverpool locked together on 26 points. If the points were scored like goals in 5-a-side, it would still be 0-0!

Liverpool went "three up" a fortnight ago now, but couldn't hold their lead for more than seven days.

That defeat against Spurs was just one event in a dismal few weeks for the "big four".

Chelsea were beaten by Liverpool and Roma but struck five past Sunderland in between. United drew with Everton the day before Chelsea's first defeat of the season, missing an opportunity to gain on them, and only just grabbed a late draw against Celtic this week.

Meanwhile, for Arsenal, things have been somewhat worse. Defeat to Stoke was simply not good enough and they could only manage a draw in Europe. Add to that the loss of Walcott, Van Persie, and Adebayor and you realise they are struggling, though I would still maintain that their season is far from over.

Liverpool lost that unbeaten record to a revitalized Tottenham and could only manage a draw against Atletico Madrid, a side who they underestimated twice.

However, all these teams have some good points to look at. Chelsea's goal difference means that, in an event two teams finishing on the same number of points, they would surely win. United have recovered from their early season loss of form and look to be improving constantly as Berbatov settles and Ronaldo gets back to full fitness.

Liverpool have Fernando Torres back and Robbie Keane should start playing well soon. As for Arsenal, things can only get better!

In all cases, the point remains that it is how they bounce back from the events of the last two weeks that decide the destination of the Premier League Trophy.

Liverpool must emulate Chelsea, in returning to winning ways straight after defeat. Chelsea must deal with the pressures that come with top-spot in a tight race, and while United could end Arsenal's title hopes this year over the weekend, an Arsenal win would mean that any of them had a genuine chance of winning the league.

As a Liverpool fan, and knowing their fixtures for the next 10 games, 25 points is a very realistic target out of the 30 on offer. Looking at Chelsea's upcoming games over the same period, they must feel they could match Liverpool even if they lost to both Manchester United and Arsenal.

United and Arsenal must chase the top two but both squads have the quality to sustain an attack over a number of games.

Come the turn of the year, with 20 games having been played, we will have a much better idea of who will win the league.

Whatever happens in the coming weeks I firmly believe that the title race, and chase, will get under way this weekend.

Steven Gerrard: Why He Should Resign

Danny Elliott — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:13:03 -0400

It takes a lot of courage to admit when you're wrong. I believe it takes a lot more to admit that you're not as good as you once were. I am firmly of the opinion that Steven Gerrard is past his best...

...as captain of Liverpool Football Club.

This piece is in no way an attempt to convince you that Gerrard has lost something as a player. To my mind, he is the best central midfielder in the world today. He has everything: pace, power, guile, skill, goals, assists, tackles, and energy. Everything.

But is he inspirational as a captain?

It is important to keep in mind that this question is qualified by the words, "...as a captain." The question is not, "Is Steven Gerrard inspirational?"

If that were the question being posed, only one word would be needed in reply: Yes. Or maybe two: Unequivocally yes. Gerrard is Mr. Liverpool, and he has gained that reputation by winning games for the club, often single-handedly.

Istanbul is the greatest example of Gerrard's inspirational quality. It was also his greatest ever performance as captain. He scored the first goal on the road to victory, and the image of him drumming up the crowd will last long in the memory.

Without him, Liverpool may well have been on the end of a hopeless loss rather than a great victory.

However, Liverpool would have failed to get through the group stage if Gerrard hadn't scored what may be his best goal yet, against Olympiakos. Liverpool were 2-1 up, but needed another goal to get through.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man and the rest, as they say, is history. Who will forget Andy Gray, screaming, "Ooohhh, ya beauty! What a hit son...what a hit!"

Gerrard provided us all with a similar experience in the FA Cup Final the next year, bursting West Ham's bubbles with his long range strike.

Despite this, with the exception of his gestures to the crowd in Istanbul, all these instances have been inspirational from Gerrard as a player as opposed to him as captain.

There are two types of captain. One could be called "the motivator", a captain who is never quiet, constantly encourages and admonishes, cheers and chides. A perfect example of this type of captain would be Roy Keane. He was the leader of the United dressing room, and he took that position with him on to the pitch.

The other type of captain is "the inspirer" who consistently comes up with performances on the pitch, which leads the other players to attempt the same type of performance. Thierry Henry would be an example of this type of captain. His body language often reeked of contempt towards his teammates, but he could turn a game in an instant with one flick of his foot.

Clearly, the best captains have both of these attributes, as Roy Keane did. Possibly the zenith of his career was in Turin when his performance, and goals, took United into the Champions League final. This achievement is made better when one remembers he knew he would be suspended for the final itself.

When looking at Gerrard, while his past performances have been magnificent, in the big games this season he hasn't turned up.

I was at Anfield for both the quarter- and semi-finals of the Champions League. The man himself was big enough to admit the Arsenal game was, "probably my worst in a red shirt", but he didn't do enough to rectify that against Chelsea. He again had a poor game in the first leg and, after JAR's own goal, his body language was despicable.

Rather than lift the spirits of the team or the fans, he shouted at Javier Mascherano, asking him why he hadn't cleared the ball. To all intents and purposes I believe the tie was lost at that moment.

In the same situation, Roy Keane may well have berated his players, but would still have had the will to win on the night, never mind at Stamford Bridge.

When Gerrard produces his best he is, possibly, the most inspirational player in the world. However, he could do that whether he was in possession of the captain's armband or not.

Teams need their captains most during the worst of times, and Gerrard hasn't performed in those moments for too long.

And if he found passing it on hard to do, he only needs to take advice from Sami Hyypia, who himself gracefully handed the role to Gerrard in the first place.

Who should replace him? The most obvious replacement is Jamie Carragher. He has a good football brain and, when Gerrard is silent, often performs the role of motivator anyway, as you may have heard!

However, I think an ideal future captain would be Javier Mascherano. He epitomises what a defensive midfielder should be with his desire and will to win. One cannot imagine him giving up.

So Steven, while I hope to watch you win the Premiership with Liverpool, you may not get the chance to lift the trophy.

Perhaps it's time to pass the armband on.

Defend the Indefensible: England and Euro 2008

Danny Elliott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:28:20 -0400

"I never wanted England to qualify for Euro 2008 anyway; I've got far too much to do in the garden."

You have thirty seconds starting... now!

After dusting off the old trowel I got to work. The geraniums needed some help. The conifer has blocked their light source, which just so happens to be the sun.

I'm not sorry at all. Who wants to see "Wazza" and the lads flop... again. And I've already seen "JT" cry quite enough for one season.

And let's be honest, they could all do with a holiday. They have a tough life these footballers, and nobody can begrudge them their breaks. I heard Ashley Cole is hoping to spend a quiet weekend in Prestatyn before "living it large" in Blackpool when his brother, Joe, comes up.

I managed to get the grass cut earlier and "Dave" has a Peak Practice marathon this weekend, so I probably won't even notice.

Steve McClaren: after all the stick you took I'll give you a little encouragement.

My plants thought you did a great job.

Fernando Torres, Liverpool's Number Nine...BOUNCE!

Danny Elliott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:31:13 -0400

Has any footballer ever had a better first season than Fernando Torres' start at Liverpool? Speculation can be made, but I suggest that Torres has had such an incredible first season that he is in contention for that place in football history.

33 goals in 46 matches would be an incredible feat for anyone, however to be achieved by a player who is in his first season is almost unbelievable. Despite the reports to the contrary, I believe Torres came to Liverpool with a very respectable goal tally, especially in the league.

During his Atletico career, he scored 91 goals in 243 games, but his contribution in the league was much more impressive with 82 in 214.

This enhances his reputation further, as Atletico have been a club who, up until this season, struggled. This ratio of goals to games goes against the thought that Torres may not be a "20 goal-a-season" striker, never mind achieving 30!

The pressure he must have felt at Atletico has been taken from his shoulders, and Atletico themselves have benefited, qualifying for the Champions League in a similar situation to that which Everton found themselves in after Wayne Rooney left them.

While Torres would have undoubtedly felt the weight of a hefty transfer fee, he knows that Steven Gerrard and even Jamie Carragher are sharing the expectations of the fans and management.

And he truly has been set free, breaking many records.

Personally, he scored more goals in a season than he had ever scored before. On a club level, he know holds the record for the most goals scored consecutively at Anfield, which is an achievement which has endeared him to the Kop. Domestically, he has had, statistically at least, the best debut season ever based on goals scored.

His introduction to top-level European football through the Champions League has been seamless, and he still has the chance to make a huge impact internationally this season with Spain in Euro 2008.

However, if we can move away from mere statistics for a moment, I think Torres has given Liverpool Football Club and their fans certain qualities this season which cannot be quantified. They go beyond the realms of measurement.

The aestheticism of some of his goals have been sublime. It is hard to imagine the feeling of a side when they know that their star can score great goals. Marseille have felt the devastating effect of one, as have Reading on more than one occasion. Torres has scored many goals which have contained such skill that they are worth more than the scoreboard shows.

Torres has also impacted by scoring a hat-trick of hat-trick's which again strikes fear into the opposition. Once he scores, they know he will go for goal again.

Above and beyond all else, I believe the biggest, and best, individual 'thing' Fernando Torres has given Liverpool this season is a song.

Although it's a new song, it was inspired by an old song.

"Bounce"? Torres has done far more than that, he has rocked the Kop.