My Kop End ... I'm a Kopite by choice

Pre-City post

2012-01-03T11:07:00.000+08:00

Happy new year! 2012 looks to be daunting on the personal front, and this is mirrored by what's in store for LFC.

Looks like the Suarez saga is in it's end game stage, each passing day brings forth more cries of injustice/unsolicited advice- January 13th looms large as the day when LFC has to make a decision on whether to appeal or not.

In my own personal opinion, I think the FA has chosen to take one man's word versus another. In this case, it opted for the 'safer' judgement while LFC is left to rue the cost of standing up for one of our own. The fact that LFC released a terse comment seems to point to an appeal - if not for principal's sake then at least to be consistent in the support. I believe the siege mentality approach is working for the club - and boy, Suarez better appreciates what LFC has been doing for him!

December seems to be a month for the underdogs with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and even Arsenal all falling to shock looses. I had first thought that the United loss would be a 'safety' net for Liverpool, had Citeh beaten Sunderland (which features a huge number of ex-United players). Now, they would be out for blood - hopefully the haste to win will leave Citeh open to Liverpool's counter. At this juncture, the sight of Stevie slotting home a beauty of a goal versus the Barcodes have bought breathing space for the club. Perhaps there will be no January transfer? De Jong from Twente looks the most likely, while Bent and lately Walcott are mere pipe dreams as are dreams of Hazard and Cavani.

Mid season review for the new boys have shown mixed results. Enrique is a superb buy, while Adam has had his up and downs. Henderson and Downing have not impressed - perhaps it's one season two early. Unsung heroes Agger and Skrtel have made Reina look good , while Carra's acceptance of his bench role is exemplary.

Point wise, if i did my homework correctly, we're only 4 points better than where we were in corresponding fixtures. Look at here for the spreadsheet. Draws while perhaps less soul crushing than defeats, have done our points in all the same. At 34 points, LFC is 38 points away from the coveted 4th spot (if the last 3 seasons are to be taken into account). 38 out of a possible 57 points seems doable - 12 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses :P . 9 wins, 11 draws and 4 losses gives the same results. After the Citeh game (I'm hopping for a win, while mind says a draw or loss) there are very winnable games versus Stoke , Bolton and Wolves. Stoke is the higher ranked team , while Bolton (who I hope will be Cahill-less) and Wolves are struggling. 9 points is a must to fire LFC into contention for 4th.

Taken from cleansheetsallround.co.uk

Hiatus

2011-12-12T13:00:00.000+08:00

It's been more than a month since my last post - real life takes precedence over blogging.

Premiere League Fantasy Football wise has been stable, having scored 35+ points for the last 3 weeks. Week 15 looks dissapointing, unless Citeh beats Chelsea convincingly. That game is shaping up to be a grudge match, what with Mancini's remarks to AVB.

Points wise, Liverpool is doing almost similarly as well as last season. We're only plus 3 points versus comparable fixtures. No doubt the drops of points at home has stunted the Dalglish revival somewhat. Of course credit goes to the team for surviving the Chelsea-Citeh-Chelsea games without a loss, while the Fulham loss was disappointing. Should Citeh win versus Chelsea and Arsenal, and provided Liverpool likewise wins at Aston Villa and Wigan, Liverpool could be at 4th level on points with Arsenal.

I wish the Suarez hearings will be concluded soon, as it will have a bearing for future games and perhaps transfer activity in January.

Post Norwich and Rallying cry

2011-11-18T17:39:00.001+08:00

Picture credites: hurriyetdailynews.com

It's not often that you see Liverpool out-passed at Anfield , and yet Norwich did exactly that. Glorious chance missed by Caroll - oh well, Liverpool's hoodoo versus the so called lesser lights of the league continues to be painfully exposed.

Up next, is Chelsea followed by Citeh. At this stage of the season, I'll fancy getting points off Chelsea. Last season corresponding fixtures saw Liverpool winning so this could be a pivotal moment.

Off field, the Evra-gate or Suarez-gate issue continues to haunt all and sundry, King Kenny and the club has backed Suarez to the hilt and the wee little man could do well to respond by putting some goals past Chelsea. Rallying cry? I hope so. Let's do one for Suarez boys. I hope Downing's good form with England translate to good club form as well.

On a non Liverpool note, Malaysia silenced Indonesia's 100 thousand strong crowd to emerge as group winners in the SEA games. Onwards and upwards.

Happy reunion!

2011-11-03T15:48:00.000+08:00

And it was a very happy reunion for Liverpool and our one time coach Roy Hodgson. When the team news broke, it was startling for the fact that the two born and bred scousers in Carragher and Gerrard were both ruled out, one from a knock, and Captain Marvel from yet another infection. Stevie, eat your veggies! Your immune system is weak!

Any lingering fears of the duo being missed were quickly placed to rest as Suarez fumbled a goal scoring pass in the early minutes. All the new boys played, from Enrique ever present at left back, to Henderson, Adam and Downing in midfield , to be topped up by our favorite Geordie in front.

The first goal was decided by the linesman, who judged that Suarez was manhandled in the box. A litany of complaints (during and after the game) rained down from the Hawthorns - even as Suarez immediately got up to chase after the wayward ball. So much for diving. Adam took the penalty easily and it was 1-0 to the Pool.

Liverpool controlled the game as pass and move proved to be better than the rigid two banks of fours. At the tail end of the 2nd half, a glorious pass from Lucas found Suarez, who passed it into the path of Caroll, who managed to poke it pass Foster.

This new partnership showed further signs of encouragement as Suarez provided telling passes to Caroll, whom tried to hold up the ball and hit ferocious shots at Foster's goal. The final attack by Liverpool was denied by Mr. Goal Post, for the 10th time this season. Either our boys can't shoot, or are unlucky...

If anything was to be missed from Gerrard's presence it was on field leadership. He normally decides who takes freekicks and once he was away, there was more than one occasion of "bickering" over who takes kicks. Get well soon Stevie!

All in, it was a good day out. Am looking forward to another good day versus Swansea - 3 points are a must.

Currently Liverpool are 10 points ahead of where we were last season. The next two games loom menacingly with Chelsea away, Citeh at home, and Chelsea away. In present form, I think Chelsea's for the taking, especially if they maintain that insanely high line of defence. Citeh at home is a scary proposition , I reckon a Rafa-like approach to strangle their midfield is needed.

On the Fantasy Football premier league front, I did well on Week 10 scoring a very respectable 36.3 points. Aguero , Enrique and Terry all delivered for me. Currently my team is filled with players from the top 6. Value wise it's a +3.5 million team, as looses were cut on expensive flops like Cech and Cahill. I retained players whose values have increased steadily and am hopping that the 'good' Mario shows up more than the deranged Mario.

Friday's musing on WBA

2011-10-28T09:50:00.000+08:00

Linked from http://images.teamtalk.com/11/02/402x210/Roy-Hodgson-West-Brom-boss2_2563271.jpg

So, it's off to West Bromwich Albion we go. A visit to the Midlands club last season ended in broken dreams as WBA won 2-1. What's at stake here? For Roy, deep down he wants to one over Liverpool ; in part due to the fans' rejection of his tenure as Liverpool manager. Many articles has been written about Hodgson's impossible situation: He was seen as a stand-in for unpopular owners, he played sensible but deadly boring football which proved unusable, and he had to face the presence of King Kenny who was supportive, but loomed large as a living breathing embodiment of Liverpool Football Club.

What's at stake for Liverpool? 3 precious points in the fight for 4th place. Totenham and Arsenal has been stringing together wins, while Liverpool has limped from one draw to another. Letting Man United and Norwich escape with draws meant 4 points dropped which is equivalent to loosing a game and drawing one more. Looking at the previous season's comparison, Liverpool could go +11 points compared to corresponding fixtures. If this does come to past, and if the upward trend continues, hopes for a demanded 4th place would be met easily.

Form guide: Liverpool's last 5 games has seen 1 loss (the debacle at the Lane) followed by 2 wins of Wolves and Everton, and two costly draws versus the Mancs and Norwich. WBA has scored similar number of points, with an upswing in results - 1 loss, 2 draws, and 2 wins. So, it would like seem like WBA is on the rise, if you forego the Carling Cup victory over Stoke which will be a massive boost - coming from behind to win at a Stadium was was unwinnable for sometime (just like the Emirates!)

At home , WBA has been indifferent , winning one, drawing one and loosing two games. This looks encouraging, only until we take Liverpool's away form, 2 wins ,2 looses and a draw. Of course, in Liverpools defence, not many team will beat Spur and Stoke away.

I actually think Liverpool plays better away for now. The crushing weight of expectation by the Anfield crowd seems to rest heavily on players like Henderson and Carroll. Playing away allows for quick counter attacks which suits Liverpool's play, as tricky flicks have not worked out quite yet.

Travelling news, both teams traveled away to contrasting fortunes. Everton beat WBA at extra time, while Liverpool saw off Stoke. ~~I'm hopping the tired legs of WBA will play a part (I don't know if the full team was fielded), as Liverpool played fringe players~~. Edit: Reader Wayne Russel pointed out it was a week ago when WBA lost to Everton, so they had a week to prepare. His twitter handle is @JohntyThompson.

A big part of the equation will be solved once Suarez's knock is accessed - but two key players will be back for Liverpool, Enrique and Gerrard.

Injury news, I'm glad Simon Long wouldn't be fielded. He's a big threat alongside Odemwingie. Liverpool's dangermen would be Gerrard and Suarez, while Carroll is due a goal soon.

The longer I write this, the more assured I am of a Liverpool win! Delusional or hopeful? Take your pick!

Stoking the Red flame!

2011-10-27T10:26:00.002+08:00

So a choice was made to catch up on my sleep debt, and forgo watching Stoke take on Liverpool during last night's Carling Cup tie. There's a much better video at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azAsNzrU8ZQ ,while the video on top showed Suarez's celebrations after his well taken double.

Coming to the Britannia needing to win outright is a mighty proposition, given that Liverpool have not beaten Stoke in their home ground after many attempts. There was an element of a revenge mission too, after having lost to Stoke 0-1 in the corresponding EPL game despite dominating proceedings.

The early signs were ominous to say the least. Kenny Dalglish was quoted that Liverpool had at least 2 clear chances to score , before Stoke scored first. Now, what seemed like a difficult task must have seem all the more harder.

That would be true, if you discounted Kenny's favorite wee man. Suarez scored a beauty of a goal which curved past the Stoke keeper, after having nutmegged Shotton. The 2nd goal was more route route, starting from a Reina kick which was volleyed by Henderson for a header which ended the game 2-1.

Personnel wise, there was rotation which saw the likes of Maxi, Spearing, Coates and the returning Lucas take their place alongside Andy Caroll. I'm glad to see Enrique and Gerrard get a day off while Maxi and Spearing get playing time.

Full Lineup: Reina, Agger, Coates, Carragher (Skrtel 46), Kelly, Maxi (Bellamy 82), Henderson, Spearing, Lucas, Suarez (Kuyt 88), Carroll Substitutes: Doni, Aurelio, Skrtel, Flanagan, Adam, Kuyt, Bellamy

Next up is Hodgson's WBA and Swansea - important 6 points to be taken before Chelsea comes visiting!

On moving away from dynamic templates, and monetization

2011-10-27T09:50:00.001+08:00

Looks like I will have to give up on Blogger's new dynamic templates for one sole reason...all my gadgets are rendered useless !

While this means a return to old school user interface - or old school user experience, it does bring monetization back onboard.

I'll try to keep the ads to a minimum while keeping content updated!

Away day blues: A Premier League Fantasy Football special

2011-10-24T12:28:00.001+08:00

www.skysports.com

Game week 9 saw a rebound to 30+ points territory, following 26.5 points in Gameweek 8. Gameweek 9 saw a strategy chosen whereby home teams were backed for the win (yay, actually used FTW in a grammatically correct way).

This backfired spectacularly, as only 3 home teams won from the 10 games contested over the weekend. Normally I would back either the obvious favorites (Chelsea you failed me so...), or the form team (Liverpool...sigh) or the home team if both earlier choices seems lacking.

The shocker of Game week 9 was undeniably United's stunning loss to City. Sir Alex has gone on to say that it was his worst day in football, as you had to look to the 1930's for the last time United was hit for six at Old Trafford. And to think that it was dismissed as a 'blip', 'statistical anomaly' etc. and so forth.

Even so, honor demands a big, big response versus Everton. This is one of the fixture that Liverpool supporters can forward to as a win-win game, as a United victory will be against the People's Club, while even sweeter will be an Everton victory making a 5 point deficit into an 8 point crisis.

I want to introduce a new weapon in your player selection : Club form. You can get a form guide from places such as http://www.teamtalk.com/premier-league/table.

If you subscribe to the form guide, the likes of Fulham, Bolton, Wigan and Blackburn are all in serious trouble. Wigan vs Fulham could be an early relegation decider, loose and Wigan must be co favorites with Blackburn to go down. Bolton is away to Swansea who will be ruing throwing away a 2 goal lead versus Wolves. Norwich will surely lick their chops considering Blackburn comes visiting, having drawn against LFC in Anfield. Of the lot, I fancy a Wigan win or draw, a Bolton loss or draw, and Norwich to beat Blackburn.

For Liverpool's rival for the coveted 4th spot, I'm hopping QPR beat Spurs (though my heart says it will be a Spurs win) while Chelsea should be hurt enough to brush aside Arsenal. Liverpool must beat Westbrom and Swansea before raising their game versus Chelsea.

It took me 2 whole transfer weeks to have a usable bench of cheapish players, while those whom have had their value dropped have been transferred out.

Frustration

2011-10-23T02:48:00.001+08:00

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1663

And it ends all square an Anfield. Shades of Blackpool's visit came to mind as a newly promoted Norwich played their hearts out for a gallant draw.

The first 20 minutes was all Liverpool, yet the elusive goal only arrived at the last seconds of the 2nd half thanks to a deflected shot by Bellamy. The old axiom about returning players coming back to score against you seem to be true for Bellamy this time round.

The 2nd half saw Norwich responding brightly, and they deservedly took the lead in the 60th minute following confusion between Reina, Carra and Johnson allowed the recent substitute Holt to score.

What followed next was a ding dong battle, with numerous chances falling to the Reds, but none was converted. Henderson was introduced, as was Caroll - who looked badly short of confidence as he missed a sitter.

The refereee, Peter Walton was thoroughly lenient and gave hardly any freekicks. Perhaps having Caroll early to play in such an environment would have worked better.

All in, there was precious little positives to be taken away. I do like the Suarez and Bellamy combination, lots of movement and pace there. Gerrard looks off the pace, and Lucas presence was missed. Oh well...

Points for points, if Norwich was to be substituted with Blackpool, then it's another point gained, or if you are pessimistic , 2 points loss.

The boy who cried wolf or victim? Plus Norwich comes a visiting

2011-10-21T13:25:00.000+08:00

Taken from http://www.wallpaperfans.com/Ewer-Thon/evra-11.html

The ugly accusation by Patrice Evra against Luis Suarez looks set to be investigated further when the English Football Association summons Evra for an interview. I was wondering why he looked incensed each time he tussled with Suarez, and thought that it was stressed caused by captaining United at Anfield.

It has been mentioned that Evra has previously made 3 other allegations of being the victim of racial abuse, and one of which was a charge brought against Liverpool 's Steve Finnan. All 3 allegations were inconclusive. As far as support is concerned, Liverpool has immediately stood by Suarez notably, United has made no such strong stand. Evra now needs to bring forth witnesses to stand by him. Ultimately it may boil down to Evra's words versus Suarez - with the shade of Evra's previous accusations haunting his case, it may be thrown out altogether.

Kenny's interview on Evra, Suarez and the Manc's derby

To qualify, racism and bigotry has no place anywhere in the 21st century. Liverpool's Barnes had to deal with monkey chants, and the club is dead set against racism in any way or form. Time will tell if this sordid affair will die down, and whether Evra is a victim.

Moving away from the unsavory aspect of modern football, Liverpool is poised to welcome Norwich City. Norwich will always a special place in the Malaysian football psyche, as the national car maker and it's british subsidiary sponsored Norwich City for 3 seasons. In fact, Norwich has beaten a Malaysian Selection side in a friendly. Undoubtedly, this early foray into club sponsorship opened the doors for future ownership of clubs in the BPL and Championship in the form of QPR and Cardiff City respectively.

Taken from http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/7f/91/0,,10355~364927,00.jpg

Norwich or known as the Canaries will visit Anfield this Saturday (or early Sunday morning for Malaysian viewers), coming off a 3 win in 4 games record. Man United was the last club to beat Norwich in that sequence. Kenny Dalglish has continued his pre match comments of needing to prepare and respect every team - no matter who shows up to play.

Team news time! A bunch of Liverpool old boys won't be able to make the party to Anfield - the likes of Ayala (fancied him as a decent CB) and Whitbread are out, as is Everton old boy James Vaughan. I'll admit I know next to nothing about the current Norwich team, with a notable mention to Steve Morison and Anthony Pilkington who did very well versus Swansea. On the Liverpool side, there are no injuries, though the likes of Johnson, Agger and Aurelio are short of match fitness. Lucas is suspended for good or bad - Spearing for a cameo?

A quick start to rattle Norwich is imperative. This game should see the return of quick fullbacks, with Kelly given the nod over Johnson and his fitness issue. I think Adam will be asked to drop back to protect the back four , while Gerrard will be tasked to drive the play forward. On the wings I fancy Downing, he's due a goal while Caroll should be hungry enough after sitting out Man United. I hope someone convinces Suarez to take out his frustration on Norwich, who looks good in the air but have yet to face Suarez's runs.

Aftermath

2011-10-18T12:37:00.000+08:00

Giggs practising his jumping , for the freekick perhaps?

So the much touted 'game of the season' ended a draw. A reported 221 countries tuned in to watch, which by itself lent weight to Liverpool's 'suggestion' on individually negotiating tv rights.

United came with one of the most negative ever line up to grace Anfield's green grass. This was mirrored by the home side - as expected, the 10 men combined midfield nullified each with very few chances in between. Seeing Rooney and Nani on the bench should have been the invitation for Liverpool to kill the game, but both sides played a cagey game, unwilling to loose.

The game only came alive once Adam was brought down. Contact was made, and Adam made the most of it. Up came Stevie G, and the great red United wall parted, helped by Giggs, whom we all know could jump quite a bit.

15 minutes to go , and a win's in the bag? Not on that day. The little pea super sub scored the equalizer while De Gea weathered the Anfield storm . 1 all, and United will count it a lucky day.

Postives for me were seeing Captain Marvel playing a full game - how Livepool have missed his drive and purpose. Henderson shone in his preferred advanced central role, while Kelly kept Young very very quiet.

The negative was the accusation versus Suarez. I hope this issue would resolve itself over time - Evra seem's a tad sensitive to that word, as he has made 3 previous accusations , all of which was unproven.

I think it was 2 points dropped against United. Nonetheless, Liverpool is still 6 points ahead compared to last season. Next up is Norwich away, which is a must win. I will fancy Arsenal to drop points versus Stoke at the Emirates, while hopping Blackburn responds to their bottom of the table plight to stun Spurs.

Premier League Fantasy Football was a meh week for me. 26.5 points as both my strikers misfired or was dropped for injury. Thankfully the likes of Terry, Larsson and Warnock scored to keep points respectable.

Elsewhere, British MPs did themselves proud by vowing to lift the veil of secrecy over Hillsborough. JFT96!

Looking at Anfield

2011-10-13T11:28:00.000+08:00

All eyes will be on Anfield

The Liverpool 360, or what I like to call the Eye of Liverpool stands impassively on the banks of the Mersey river. It's something you can't miss on Albert Docks. I had a fair view of it nightly from my room in the Ibis Hotel , just across the road.

Likewise, the fixture that all eyes will be upon this week is the Liverpool-Manchester United game. Sir Alex Fergerson has billed it as the games of the season, ahead of intra-city rivals Citeh, and the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea. King Kenny however has opted to go for the mind game route, being quoted as saying:

"People say this is the biggest game of the season," said the Liverpool manager. "I don't look at any game as being big or small. It's another game where you get three points for winning.

"The only difference this time is the fact that if we win we'll move a bit closer to them. It's an opportunity to help yourself and dent their chances at the same time.

"United have started the season very well. They're sitting top of the table at the moment and that's where everybody wants to be."

Liverpool have won this fixture for the last three seasons, but Dalglish has warned his players that will count for nothing come 12.45pm on Saturday.

"In this fixture last season, we got our reward for playing very well and won 3-1," he said. "But we won't get anything on Saturday because of what we did the last time we played United.

"We know that what we're up against and so do they. Nobody will have an easy 90 minutes. That's what the Premier League is all about."

- sourced from the full article here: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-v-Manchester-United-is-just-another-game-claims-Kenny-Dalglish-article811121.html

3 pointer?

So, how do I see it personally? For me, it's a big, big game. We won last round, so loosing this fixture would mean that we would be dropping 3 points compared to what was achieved last season. As it stands, Liverpool is currently 8 points up in comparison to similar matches this time last season. Loose, and we will be 5 points up. Points dropped aside, bragging rights will be lost, as well as the knowledge that Liverpool was found lacking when it comes to stopping the big Red machine of Manchester. We should be masters of our own fate, and not rely on the likes of Citeh to stop no. 20 from resting in Manchester United. Beat Manchester United, and the gap between LFC and United drops to a mere 3 points. It also shatters their myth of invincibility, while making the game versus Citeh all the more pressurizing. All's to play for then.

Players to watch

Injured personnel wise, Vidic and Cleverly could return for United. This will shore up United's defence, though Vidic has been red carded frequently for derby matches. Phil Jones is faster than Vidic, and the pairing of Vidic to handle Caroll while Jones tracks Suarez is an interesting one. That leaves Rio and Smalling as the other contenders. For Liverpool, Captain Marvel is back - Stevie will be chomping at the bit to United in and his return will be at the expense of Adam or Henderson surely. Right back for Liverpool remains a challenge, with Kelly injuring his groin again, while I can't remember the last time Johnson played. For me, Lucas and Kuyt should start for their sheer energy, while Suarez will be called upon to be a game winner. Caroll can also continue his revival by scoring against United, though I'm not sure how the United defenders will handle him. For Man United, Young is an obvious threat, Rooney often shys away during big games, while Nani will be reacquinted with Carragher. A big tackle will be a good way to remind him of his last outing .

Match officials

Andre Marriner revisits Anfield having dished out red cards to Vidic and Maschareno. Hope his return will be a fair one.

Formation

This is anyone's guess, as stated earlier I would prefer Kuyt over Henderson. Gerrard on right wing will be an interesting one, though I suspect he may well run out of steam hence the need for Energizer Kuyt to be there. Here's my attack minded 3-5-2

Another more conservative 4-4-2, without Agger and Henderson

Here's to the game then!

Short post, more of a link actually

2011-10-04T11:59:00.000+08:00

Want to know how Liverpool is faring compared to last season? This is a link to a spreadsheet I maintain

Go here: bit.ly/qDMRdL #LFC

Everton 1 - Liverpool 0 and they're in sixes and seven

2011-10-04T11:47:00.000+08:00

Once again I missed the game , this time due to a commitment to plan for an upcoming meeting in 2013.

Once again, Liverpool won the game, and with a clean sheet to boot. Everton had one Red card (it was a clean tackle, however show your studs in front of the ref, and you get what's coming) to Liverpool's nil, and ultimately that was what proved to be their undoing. There were plenty of positives for Liverpool namely:

Clean sheet!
Caroll scored
Gerrard got through more minutes
We're 8 points up from corresponding fixtures last season

Looking forward to the visit of Man United to Liverpool. This is a 6 pointer if you considered last season's performance - we beat the Manchester team at Anfield only to loose the next two fixtures versus Blackpool and Westbrom. Potentially we could beat Man U and win the next two games away at West Brom and home to Swansea for a massive 9 points. My heart says a Liverpool win while head says a draw, think Ferguson won't risk all for a win - there's the spectre of Citeh playing at home to Villa to contend with. Potentially we could beat Man U and win the next two games away at West Brom and home to Swansea for a massive 9 points. I would settle for 7 from 2 wins and a draw vs Man United. Thats sounds better than 3 points from a possible 9 last season.

On the premiere league fantasy football front, it was a tale of gradual progression. Game week 5-7 saw a rise from 29-34-37 points. My tip for this week is: Hold off your transfer unless like me you are buying non National team players. I also made the painful decision of dropping Cech who looks like a poor shadow of his dominating self.

Reds 2, Wolves 1

2011-09-25T01:08:00.000+08:00

So the Wolves left their den looking to have some Liverbird for supper. Last season, Wolves did exactly that - completing a memorable double over a misfiring Liverpool.

This was one game I was looking forward to all week, but could not catch it live due to a family emergency. I tried listening via BBC 5 live but it wasn't broadcasted in our area (now I know why shortwave radio was so much loved by my Granddad). Live streams proved fitful, especially when Windows decided to grab all manner of update, thus killing off precious bandwidth.

As I write, match reports are trickling in. Most are saying Andy Carroll did good this time, except he didn't score. The Pisterio salute was finally seen in Anfield after plenty of near misses while a Charlie Adam inspired own goal sealed the win over Wolves. The 2nd half proved a nervy affair as Skrtel miscommunicated with Reina allowing a Wolves goal.

I can't and won't comment too much on a game I didn't watch. It was very important to win after dropping 6 points, especially with the visit of the Bitters to come of course there's the huge clash with Man United after that. And since, we're on the topic of raising our game, there's a need to beat Stoke away to progress in the League Cup.

So how is Liverpool doing so far? I have a file at http://bit.ly/qDMRdL that you can use to compare points for yourself (comparing between similar fixtures this season and last). LFC has doubled our points from comparable fixtures thus far scoring 10 points versus 5 for the same set of fixtures last season. The next two games saw a total of 3 points garnered , beating mighty Man United at home while loosing to Everton. Matching that set of results would be better than a face saving series of draws.

I'll conclude this post by showing a link to the marvelous goal Suarez scored. Jump to this link http://bit.ly/pZeOvp

Week 5: Fantasy Football Premier League

2011-09-24T09:24:00.000+08:00

And there you have it, a rather dismal week, but far less worst than expected.

Like many teams, I rely heavily on a superstar to get me the point as the rest of my FF team flattered only to deceive. Maradona's son-in-law once again delivered a Captain's performance, earning me 20 points while the rest flattered to deceive.

Suarez's pertulant nature in the face of what is deemed unfair treatment is earning him cards, and costing me points. It is here that my passion for my team belies the practical - should be dropping wee little Suarez but for the fact he wears Red and is by far the best player that Kenny has to choose from.

My defense again suffered, with all of them conceding goals. Cech did vindicate my selection,as he gave one point despite having 3 put pass him. All this while Given smirks at him from the bench having scored 2.5 points.

My tips for the week:

Modric is a cheap buy at 10 million for your midfield. Watch out for a recovering Stevie G.

That is all.

Brave Brighton will make their fans happy

2011-09-23T16:58:00.000+08:00

"I wanted results for the club, for the love of the game, to make the people happy." - Bill Shankly

Gus Poyet's Brighton welcomed Liverpool FC for the right to move on to the 4th Round of the League Cup. The match was held in the stadium once known as the Falmer Stadium, now renamed the American Express Community Stadium. I wonder if Visa is accepted at the shops...

But I digress. The Battle of the Birds (Seagulls vs Liverbirds) was an intriguing one. Brighton and Hove Albion F.C lay third in the Championship after an impressive start. In their Uruguyuan manager Gus Poyet , him of Spurs and Chelsea fame, they had yet another young and rising manager. The current Brighton team boasts a few Scousers , namely Navarro and Noone the ex-roof repairer. More exciting are the names of Vicente Rodríguez Guillén, from Benitez's crushing machine in Valencia; and Iñigo Calderón Zapatería , formerly an Alaves player. Football Manager fans will also note Casper Ankergren - he's the goalkeeper from Leeds whom you replaced as soon as you get promoted to the Premier League.

The first half saw total domination from the Reds as the pass and move football totally flummoxed the Brighton player. Bellamy calmed nerves(Stoke was played off the park and still won) with a goal in the first 10 minutes. More shots rattled off the inspired Brighton goalpost as Bellamy's freekick, and then Spearing's effort as well as near misses from Suarez ended the half on a bright note for Liverpool.

Whatever Poyet said at half time did their magic as Brighton came out in the 2nd half to show that they can play attractive attacking football. Noone was a constant menace as he ran time and again at the Liverpool defenders. It was a nervy time for LFC. Lucas did not have a good game and suffered as soon as the Brighton midfielder made quick surges through the centre of the midfield.

Inspirational figures took to the field in the last 15 minutes or so, as first Vicente Rodriguez took his place, followed by Steven Gerrard. Captain Marvel has been missed for a good long 6 months.

The game was sealed as Kuyt finished in a near copy of Bellamy's goal following good work by Maxi. This wasn't the last kick of the game however, as a late penalty was converted following by a failure by the officials to stop play following a ball out of play incident by the touchlline.

All in, it was a good win, to calm LFC before Wolves comes. Disturbingly, LFC played better without Carroll once more while Noone really caught the eye.

Looking to the past while keeping an eye on the future

2011-09-19T11:48:00.000+08:00

Today's forum and footy websites makes for uncomfortable reading. As Man United and Spurs fans jovially go through Monday morning, harsh questions are being asked of Kenny Dalglish's men. Even King Kenny himself is not spared the scrutiny as the honeymoon bed-in period looks to be well and truly over.

I hear chinese whispers which goes along the lines of...

Did Kenny get it wrong to openly accuse referedom of being biased, thus inflicting even harsher judgement on LFC? Why wasn't Kuyt played to protect Skrtel? Why wasn't Flannagan on the bench? Carroll and Adam are two big waste of money?

On issues related to selection, some are making out Skrtel's and Adam's impending suspension as being good for the team. Perhaps now one of either Henderson or Gerrard can partner Lucas in midfield with Maxi or Kuyt on the wings. Coates' buy looks timely now as surely he will get game time due to Agger's ribs and Skrtel's dismissal.For the right back position, we can only hope that Kelly gets fit, with Flannagan in as cover.

More worrying is the fact that Caroll and Suarez aren't clicking yet. The big man can score using his foot so why lob the ball into space all the time? Moving away from the noise, one can only look to the future. A certain Captain who's been away for 6 months is due a return. Will it be against Brighton? Only if he needs match fitness I say.

If one cared to do a fixture-for-fixture analysis of this season's achievement versus last season's, one might find a glimmer of hope. I'ved shared a document that allows you to keep of this is done at http://bit.ly/qDMRdL.

First of, season 2011/2012 has seen 7 points scored compared to 5 points in season 2010/2011 for the same fixtures. There will be games where we are expected to pick up points, as we lost 14 games in all last season. Win most of them and we're in a good position.

For the next three games, we have scored a total of 3 points last season. Beating Wolves at home , Everton away and drawing at Old Trafford is a reasonable aim. 7 points out of 9 is very respectable. Realistically though, it could be 5 points ( 1 win and 2 draws) or 6 points (2 wins and 1 draw). Time will tell

Well and truly beaten, but perspective please

2011-09-18T22:30:00.001+08:00

Modric's early goal, Skrtel as RB, Adam's red mist, followed by Skrtel's dismissal equals to a 3-nil trashing at the lane. Reina's fumble was uncharacteristic.

So 6 points dropped? If one was to use the corresponding fixture argument, only one point was dropped. Stoke last season at home was a drawn game, while Spurs did an emphatic double last year over Liverpool.

In the end, Spurs won comfortably 4-nil.

So was there any bright sparks? Surely Coates will start, while Flanagan will play at right back. Stevie's due to be back.

Night of the Underdogs

2011-09-18T11:49:00.000+08:00

Arsenal fans can expect to face more numerical barbs after falling to a 4-3 defeat in which they scored 6 times!

Those who ate too much for three days would feel as bloated as Arsenal's recent record of conceding goals.

Saturday was indeed the night of the underdog as Blackburn, QPR ,Swansea and Norwich all recorded priceless wins. Blackburn beat Arsenal 4-3 at Ewood Park , while QPR beat Wolves in their own den 3-0, and Norwich beat a Cahill powered Bolton 2-1 . Swansea rounded up the upsets by beating Hodgson's WBA 3-0. Arsenal wasn't the only one to suffer, my Fantasy Football selection favored the favorites, and I expect another points massacre by the time Sunday is over.

Heady stuff indeed for neutrals. The BPL is indeed a league where the standards have closed not just at the top, but through out the league. As for why this is not reflected in Europe, that's a story for another day.

It was also a good day for Malaysian related BPL clubs. Norwich was sponsored by Proton once upon a time, while Tony Fernandez's takeover of QPR has shown immediate fruits. In fact, all it took for Astro (a satellite channel) to put QPR's game online was a call from Big Tony himself. That man knows how to market his brand!

Fabulous Week Four! Premier League Fantasy Football

2011-09-13T10:32:00.000+08:00

59.3 points ! High score thus far!

It's always a good day when your captain in Premier League Fantasy Football scores a hattrick. Kudos goes to a certain son-in-law of Mister Maradona for putting 3 goals past the opposing team's goal keeper.

My new 3-4-3 formation paid off last week as the front 3 (bar a certain Luis Suarez, whose yellow card plus no goals scored earned him 0 points) combined to earn 30 points! Actually, it was all down to Aguero's brilliance , as his hattrick earned 28 points by virtue of being team captain. Last week was Dzeko's turn, now Kun hugs the limelight.

Elsewhere, the team performed par for the course. My midfield needs further revamping as the likes of Delph, Brunt, Ramsey and Barry (who was dropped) gave me a paltry 8 points. Barry is a classic example of the dangers of picking players who has to fight for every appearance due to talented talents in his position.

The defence rose to the occasion as I benefited from Terry and Baines scoring on the field, instead of off it while Mr. Warnock had an assist. This was a great difference from when the defenders I chose leaked goals and didn't assist or score in past weeks.

Now, I need to reign in my impulses to transfer players - European nights are on this week. Injuries will take their toll on teams while Liverpool waits fresh.

My tips for player selection (if they stay fit):

For this week: Try Cech...he's bound to save most of the shots United will be sending his way.

For points : Begovic is protected by a tough, tough Stoke defence.

Best on a budget: Good old Shay Given is a great buy at 6.1 million despite coming in 5th in terms of points.

Forward

For this week: Ivan Klasnic, he's cheap and starting against Norwich

For points : Choose between the Citeh pairing of Dzeko and Aguero, doubt Rooney can score as freely versus Chelsea. Do not choose Torres.

Best on a budget: Klasnic!

Midfield

For this week: Going to sound un-Malaysian (all Malaysian support QPR or Cardiff) but would go for Matt Jarvis who's going to have a go at QPR.

For points: Silva of Citeh. The wee little man is worth his weight in gold at the moment.

Best on a budget: Sentiments aside, Man United's Anderson and Cleverly are clever purchases.

Note: Midfielders are overpriced for their points - even budget buys are more than 8 million pounds.

Defense

For this week: Ryan Taylor from Newcastle . He should be able to edge out Villa's strikers.

For points: Ryan Taylor is red hot right now.

Best on a budget: Any of the Stoke City boys, Ryan Taylor

Here's a cynical hope that rivals suffer European fatigue (won't wish injury on anyone, that's being mean and crass) and drop points (especially Arsenal and Spurs).

Stoked!

2011-09-12T09:48:00.000+08:00

After beating Arsenal at the Emirates, hopes were high that Liverpool would repeat that feat - win on a historically unwinnable ground - began to take shape.

The statistics post match seemed to scream out that Liverpool could not have lost. Liverpool had 74% possession , 74% of passes completed, 3 times as many shots on goals as Stoke, as well as put in almost 3 times the number of crosses. Defensively, Stoke outshone Liverpool - leading in clearances.

Ultimately, the only statistic that did matter was the final scoreline. Stoke won 1-nil and has now won 8 out of 9 points, sitting pretty in the coveted 4th place above Liverpool.

As the match drew on, I made a comment on Facebook on how missing the avalanche of chances would cost Liverpool. Two glaring misses came in mind - first Henderson and Adam contrived to have 5 shots on goal blocked while Suarez missed a glorious chance when there was a slip up between the goal keeper and defender in the last minute.

I won't comment too much on Clatterburg's performance. Dalglish has made it painfully clear how he feels about match officials.

This defeat would once again put the spotlight on Liverpool, particularly as Spurs looms large in the weekend. Win and it's euphoria again, loose and it's condemnation. Such is football!

Some questions that needs answering following the game are as follows:

1. Where will Henderson play once Stevie is back?

2. When will we see the effects of post-Europe games on our foes?

3.Who's going to stop Citeh and United?

Week 3 Fantasy Football Premier League: Normal service resume

2011-09-06T14:30:00.000+08:00

Week 3 : Normality

Week 3 of Facebook's Fantasy Football Premier League saw a sense of normality restored. The team I put out did not suffer a battering on the scale of the points massacre in Week 2. Scoring was lead by the team captain Kun Aguero who helped himself to 12 points as he scored in a 5-1 rout by Man City. If you had picked the magnificent Dzeko in Week 3 you would have heap of points. 4 of my first 11 players played for teams who conceded goals - of the 4, two were outfield players (including poor Ramsey who played in the 8-2 dismantling of Arsenal) while the remaining 2 were defenders. Conceding goals is bad news for defenders while it does not affect outfield players so much.

Lesson to be learned: Minimize your defenders if they are playing for teams who will get a beating.

As can be seen, my first 11 has lots of Villa players - I'm not a fan, but these players offer good value for money. This can be a dangerous thing if Villa is due to play a big team. Thankfully that's not the case, as they are playing Everton sans Arteta. This leads to my decision of rooting for Villa versus Everton (dropping Baines to the bench), in a admitedly heart over mind decision of never rooting for Everton.

My problems are further compounded by the injury suffered by Cech, who has since lost 1.2 million in value accordingly. Physioroom.com suggests he's due to be back by September 10, while I think he will be back only on the 18th of September for the tie versus Man United. Do I cash in now to free up potentially 5.8 million? Or do I hold on to minimize my loss on investment.

The value of my squad has actually grown by 4.4 million, due to picking gems like Ramsey and Klasnic early on. I'm particular happy with Ramsey, as he has been given his opportunity by Nasri and Fabregas.

I think I'll go for an attacking line up this week with a 4-3-3 formation, and hopping that Villa upsets Everton this week. The Everton boys drop to the bench, while I trade in Garth Barry for Matthew Etherington and go with a front 3 of Klasnic, Suarez and Aguero .

Charlie Adam and Lucas Leiva , heirs to Alonso and Maschareno?

2011-09-06T12:54:00.000+08:00

Pass Master and Monster Destroyer

The sights of Xabi Alonso spraying passes from deep in midfield , and Maschareno destroying yet another intricate passing sequence used to be available for viewing at Anfield. Nowadays, you have to brave the crowd in the Bernebau or join the adoring masses at FC Barcelona to view these two masters at work.

Xabi's influence has been greatly missed, and by selling him Rafa Benitez may well have started a series of unfortunate events leading to his dismissal. Alonso's cultured foot made the defensive and controlled setup favored by Benitez tick. Maschareno did his best work against European foes and local derbies versus United and Everton , where he tirelessly harried and destroyed intricate passing patterns.

Lucas and Adam

Charlie Adam does the same work as Xabi Alonso, albeit without the spanish maestro's finese. He even tried to chip the Arsenal keeper from his halfway line. His passes , are reminiscent of Xabi's , especially from the left field switching play to the right hand side. Adam also has a penchant for Gerrard like hollywood passes , which is often aimed at the scampering Suarez. I also don't really rate his positional play, which is inferior to Alonso's. He does one thing better than Alonso though, deadballs. Corners and freekicks from Adam has netted his fair share of assists.

Lucas has grown from strength to strength, from a boo boy (Rafa liked him, so I believe he became Rafa's stand in for abuse) to LFC's player of last season. He doesn't destroy passes like Maschareno, but tackles and intercepts intelligently. I also believe there's a box-to-box midfielder hidden beneath his new found defensive skills.

So there you have, Liverpool's class of 2011 versus the old guards. Time will tell if Lucas and Adam surpasses Xabi and Masch in terms of trophies.

This leaves the million pound question: Where does a certain Steven Gerrard feed in once he's back?

Post transfer window

2011-09-06T12:41:00.000+08:00

The transfer window closed shut with a twist or two last August 31st 2011. It was a near event-less day, only to be brought to life by Meireles' transfer request and subsequent transfer to Chelsea while Craig Bellamy helicoptered in from the Wales training camp to join Liverpool on a free transfer.

Most of my Liverpool supporting friends were dismayed to learn of Meireles' transfer. His purple patch of scoring goals after goals which earned him the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award, as well his creativity via clever flicks and knock-ons will no doubt be missed. In fact, his departure plus the loans of Cole and Aquilani seems to indicate a lack of creativity in the current team bar the genius of Suarez. What will not be missed is Meireles' lack of fitness as well as tendency to shy away from a tackle. The Torres like timing of his request also left much to be desired.

Bellamy's signing , will be judged by time. His suspect knees, and manic moments are balanced by his pace and willingness to play out wide on either wings. He may be a stop gap solution for a quick right winger in place of Henderson or Kuyt.

In (signed):
Jose Enrique (Liverpool, undisclosed); Stewart Downing(Aston Villa, undisclosed); Jordan Henderson (Sunderland, £20 million);Charlie Adam (Blackpool, £8 million); Alexander Doni (Roma, undisclosed);Craig Bellamy (Manchester City, free), Sebastian Coates (Nacional, undisclosed)

Suggested total from various sites and tweets: 56 million

Out (signed):
Nabil El Zhar(released); Jason Banton (released); Deale Chamberlain (released); Douglas Cooper (released); Sean Highdale (released); Steven Irwin (released); Nikola Saric (released);Paul Konchesky (Leicester City, undisclosed); Martin Hansen (Bradford City, loan); Gerardo Bruna (Blackpool, loan); Chris Mavinga (Rennes, undisclosed); Tom Ince (Blackpool, undisclosed); Milan Jovanovic (Anderlecht, undisclosed); Daniel Ayala (Norwich, undisclosed);Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Wolfsburg, undisclosed); Dani Pacheco (Atletico Madrid, loan); Emiliano Insua(Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed); Joe Cole (Lille, season loan); Villyan Bijev (Liverpool to Fortuna Dusseldorf, season loan); Christian Poulsen (Evian, undisclosed); David Ngog (Bolton, undisclosed); Philipp Degen (released); Raul Meireles(Chelsea, undisclosed),

Suggested total from various sites and tweets: 20 million

This suggest a net spend of anything between 30-40 million. A Telegraph reporter further suggests that there will be a savings of 30 million on wages from the various players loaned/transferred/released. LFC has done well financially after being mocked for spending big on Downing and Henderson.

And on that note, here's my choices for various signing related awards

Best value for money signing : Jose Enrique (proven BPL player, instant solution to problematic LB area)

One for the future : Sebastian Coates (much promise, to be revisited in the future)

Surprised freeby : Craig Bellamy

Most happy to see transferred out : Toss up between Poulson and Konchelsky

Best transfer in: Between Downing and Enrique.

Yet to be convinced: Carroll (yes, a January transfer ) and Henderson

Match of the Morning : Exeter FC vs Liverpool

2011-08-24T09:21:00.000+08:00

English Carling League Cup 2nd Round
EXETER CITY VS LIVERPOOL
ASTRO SUPERSPORT 3 (CH817) 2.40 am LIVE

Kenny's gone out to say that the approach "will be like against Arsenal". At the same time, team news creeping in shows that the likes of Aquilani, N'gog and some more potential transfer out will not take part.

Monday's movement and musing on Exeter

2011-08-23T12:28:00.000+08:00

So, Soto's gone and left Liverpool for the comforts of Wolfsburg. I wish him good success, as he is indeed a good servant of the club, brought in at the start of a desperate season. He has since played his heart out, scored a few goals while conceding a few penalties. I would rate him alongside Igor Biscan as an honorable member of Liverpool's Legion of Cult Heroes. His transfer really happened unexpectedly, no doubt reflecting Kenny's policy of keeping things in house and quiet. His departure would of course help rumors of Cahill, Shawcross or the latest one being Sebatien Coates.

Mighty greek!

On the transfer front, Cole, Aquilani and N'gog continue to lead the lineup for suspected club leavers. QPR seems keen on Cole, provided Liverpool subsidize his wages - perhaps we can see it as QPR subsidizing Liverpool's wages as I don't think Cole would want to move to QPR permanently. Aquilani's transfer saga continues , I would tolerate a loss on his fees, and admit that we have been suckered into a bad deal. AC Milan seems keen on a loan, perhaps encouraged by Juventus's success off and on field with the Aquaman. I'd say sell him outright. N'gog continues to be linked with striker-less (less as in being a bit lightweight) Bolton. Would we see him and Cahill swap colours and face each other in Anfield? This would of course be only trumped by the sight of Bellamy plying his trade in Anfield colours again. Stranger things have happened in football.

On to Exeter, I would be the first to admit I know next to nothing about this club.Steve Tully, a defender in Exeter has been making the expected giant-killing noises. He claims a small dressing room and a hostile crowd (we'ved played in pretty hostile arenas before - Old Trafford, Goodison, Nou Camp...) Liverpool would unlikely be taking this game in their stride, as memories of Reading and other lesser-lights should prove that the Reds are all too vulnerable to the minnows of the game.

If I could choose the team, I would opt for a mixture of experienced fringe players plus youngsters . Doni-Kelly-Carra-Skrtel(if fit)-Robinson-Maxi-Spearing-Henderson-Cole-Caroll-Meireles. Bench would consist of Reina-Flannagan-Coady-Insua-Ngog-Poulson-Suso. Caroll looks like he needs goals for confidence while Meireles needs match fitness. Here's hopping the game is shown on telly!

Week 2 Fantasy Football Premier League: Massacre!

2011-08-23T11:47:00.000+08:00

While Week 1 saw me picking a team that soared to the rarified heights of the top 2% of players in FFPL, Week 2 turned out into a veritable collapse points wise. I scored 26.3 points, a loss of 48% compared to the previous week's score of 54.3.

The reasons leading to this dismal performance was were many. First of all, my team was still reeling from injuries suffered by Cech and Vidic. This lead to 38 million worth of players on the bench, due to a monumental mistake in using up my substitutions before Friday.

The matchday team suffered further, with Chris Baird not making the first team, he was not injured so I guess he was dropped for performance reasons. Another dissapointment was Delph, who although was on the winning team (Aston Villa) and was on for 90 minutes scored 0 points as his team conceeded a goal.Perplexingly, Tim Cahill was on the loosing team, played 90 minutes, conceeded a goal and was awarded two points. Stephen Warnock had the exact same stats as Delph yet scored 1.8 points.Seems like a mistake there.

Successes were found in the strikers, with Suarez, Aguero and super-sub Klasnic combining for a respectable 15 points. Substitution logic was a bit off as well, as Klasnic was substituted for a defender, or perhaps the game reverted to a 3-4-3 formation for me . Ramsey's score of 1.5 also surprised me as he scored an own goal yet received 2.0 marks.

Lesson to be learnt this week is to keep transfer business till the very last minute. Secondly, the game punishes loosing team badly, as well as goals conceeded. Given was a winning team's keeper , yet because he conceeded one goal was scored at 1.8, and his score stayed low as there were few shots coming in to be saved.

Tips for this week:

1.Player values are being adjusted, so if you can't afford the likes of Cech and Vidic you may be able to afford them when they have recovered. Have a list of targetted injured players to shop for as they recover.

2.If you need a cheap-ish striker to come off the bench, Klasnic from Bolton is a good choice. Scored in last two games, which mirrors Suarez's strike rate.

Arsenal Nil - Liverpool 2

2011-08-23T11:00:00.000+08:00

This was the game I was looking forward to the whole week. On paper, it seemed
Arsenal was there for the taking. A host of players injured, their captain returned ,
and a certain Frenchman agitating for a move. This was all tempered by the fact that
Liverpool has not won away at Arsenal for the last 11 years, not since Titi Camara scored the winner
on that fateful day. Even boss Kenny Dalglish sought to manage expectations.

The day duely came, and I found myself in the middle of a sumptous family day....and a hotel which
did not have footy on the telly. The local Malay restaurant across the road did however, and I was
able to follow the match for the price of two hot sweetened tea.

I followed the action in the second half. It was a cagey affair, and I witnessed RVP's miss. Liverpool looked content to sit back and probe for openings. The players who caught my eye included a very assured

Kelly and Enrique, wih Kelly swooping forward with confidence. Kuyt was hardworking as usual - I witnessed him once tracking back from the final third back all the way to just outside Liverpool's penalty area toto win a tackle.

The horror tackle by Rimpong sealed Arsenal's fate as the dynamic substitutes Suarez and Meireles quickly combined to score two goals, albeit one was helped on by Ramsey. 5 minutes of extra time later, and Liverpool had a famous win in the bag.

This victory was of course sneered upon by detractors who gave excuses such as injuries, and that Liverpool only beat "Arsenal". Further transfers by our rivals in the form of Mata being signed by Chelsea, after the breathtaking signing of Aguero by Citeh - leaves expectations of success being strictly put into it's place. It looks like a long, hard season is ahead.

Exodus

2011-08-19T10:35:00.000+08:00

100 million worth of reinforcement has been the very surprising outcome of a summer of promise.

At the same time , a quiet exodus is happening at Liverpool Football Club.

Milan Jovanovic left for Anderlecht on a free transfer. What he did take away with him was his huge wages, reportedly in the region of GBP120,000 per week inclusive of his signing on fee. How much that was paid back to him is a mystery to be resolved by another tell all book.

Paul konchesky was the next to leave , for a reported 1.5 million pounds though officially it's undisclosed. I think player's transfer fees should be left undisclosed as it lessens pressure. Witness one Jordan Henderson...

Gulacsi was the loaned to Hull City, and Hull repaid the favor by beating liverpool soundly 3-nil. Gratitude!

Stephen Darby was also sent out to Rochdale on loan. I fear that his days in the squad are numbered.

Alex Cooper was released, with a whole host of youngsters who didn't make the breakthrough. Among them was the Guvernor's son, who plies his trade in attack minded Blackpool.

Latest news suggest that N'gog is close to a deal with Bolton, who's pretty light up front. Nabil El Zhar has also been released to join to join Levante. Poulson has admited that he needs regular football, it's a matter of match making him with a club that wants him. Deggen was also linked to QPR (come on Tony, you know you want him!)

That leaves Joe Cole and Aquilani who both command salaries of GBP90,000 per week. Rumors for clubs interested in the pair ranges from QPR and Totenham to Juventus and AC Milan. I doubt that they will go , perhaps Joe Cole would be easier to move. Other potential signings away from the club must include Insua (who tweeted about some move or other), Wilson (for loan back at his old club?), Spearing and Shelvey (midfield is bloated).

So how much has LFC gained from transfers and savings in wages? I'd say 1.5 million GBP plus perhaps GBP90K (from Jova) + GBP50K(Konchesky) +GBP35K(El Zhar) +GBP10K(for released players). That brings a total of GBP185K a week to be spent on the likes of any one of Doni, Henderson, Adam, Downing and Enrique.

The plus side is that whatever dead wood that survives the cull this season will have their contracts up by next season.

Fantasy Football Premiere League: Week 1

2011-08-16T17:02:00.000+08:00

Aftermath of week 1

Don't mind the blank white space. I'm having blogger issues.

My previous post on Fantasy Football http://kopite.blogspot.com/2011/08/fantasy-football.html has attracted the most attention since the blog was launched. I gave some advice on how to win at fantasy football. So how did I fare using my own advice?

The picture above shows me sitting pretty as the top 2% ranked fantasy football manager. I managed to score 54.3 points, the highest ever that I can remember.

Let's see how I did , based on my own advice.

1. Be an objective manager, and not be a fan of a manager.

This I did, I only choose one Liverpool player, and Luis Suarez delivered. Sort of. His penalty missed was made up for by one goal, but at the end he gave me a measly 2 points.

2. Have a system

I chose a defensive outlook this season - favoring a good goalkeeper and good defenders. This may prove to be a wrong system , as I will reveal later... Nevertheless, my favored 4-3-3 formation turned into a 4-2-2 formation as I had to leave two players on the bench due to the postponed Totenham-Everton game.

3.Manage injuries

This worked well. Previously I left injured players on the team because of laziness, and now putting a healthy first eleven has done wonders for points gathered. Physioroom however, can get it wrong. Cattermole was listed as injured, and he looked anything but as he bossed the midfield versus Liverpool.

4.Look for hidden gems

Ivan Klasnic was a fan favorite last season, and he proved his worth in Week 1. He grabbed one goal and lasted the distance to give 8 points. Better than say, Mario B. from Man City.

My tip? Wesley Hoolahan may be the Charlie Adam of this season. Norwich plays well when the Hoolahan can.

5.Look to the past

Old is gold. Silva and Klasnic did well, as did Cahill. These three are the top ranked players point wise in their position. Only the wonderful Kun topped the points list for the newcomers.

6.Remember, it's a dynamic league

As a Liverpool fan, I am "encouraged" at the loss of Vidic, Rafa , Ferdinand and Cesc through injuries/transfer. As a fantasy football manager, that means 3 solid performers out of action. Who will step up? Remember you can transfer TWO players in a game week.

7.Think outside the box

Must admit that I'm not much of an out of box type. One example I can think of is to select a decent keeper who can save shots and who will be shot at lots . Disclaimer: If your keeper concedes, that undo his saves - no matter how many he has saved, goals conceded will be punished. Asmir Begovic scores the most point this week.

8.Min-Max

Injuries and scrapped games means I am not able to min max much. In retrospect, injured players shouldn't even make my bench. They did, so now these players needs to be transferred out.

Thought of the day concerning your system: Let's examine maximum marks for Week 1 if you employ these systems

Defense first aka 5-4-1 : 8+(10+10+6+6+6)+(9+9+7+6)+11=88

Attack crazy aka 4-3-3 (remember the game allows 3 forwards max) = 8 +(10+10+6+6) +(9+9+7)+(11+8+7)=91

Normal aka 4-4-2:8 +(10+10+6+6)+(9+9+7+6)+(11+8)=92

So, in conclusion, the 3 systems above more or less perform the same. When you anticipate a goal-fest, put on more strikers. When you expect 0-0 draws or low scoring games, load up on defenders.

Midfielders are harder to sort out as they do not score as predictably as strikers

Happy FF-ing!

Liverpool vs Sunderland 1-1 (14-08-2011)

2011-08-14T07:57:00.000+08:00

Image source: http://goo.gl/fvGJE

A late dinner with the wife , plus cleaning up the mess done by the dog after a rainy evening caused me to start the BPL 2011/2012 10 minutes late. I missed the run by Suarez on goal, the bootled red card turned into a yellow card for Richardson and the Baggi inspired missed by Suarez.

I did however, catch the flicked one goal by Suarez, from an Adam free-kick. Expectations soared, before it soured at the end.

Opening minutes of the game saw the confidence of Kenny Dalglish in his new buys. All of the summer's acquisition started in their first game at Anfield.

Who caught the eye? Here's my impression of the new , and newish boys:

Suarez: Lively, then faded. He will be one to watch this season.

Carroll: Crouch has shown how Liverpool has struggled to use their big man up front, and today's game was no better. Carroll looked livelier, and I hope he gets better.

Henderson: Central midfielder sent out to right midfield. Struggled to impress, but I read somewhere his passing completion rate was 88%. He could do well to learn from Lucas as the brickbats will be out for him now.

Adam: Looked very Gerrard-like with his booming passes, Hollywood or not. Shots from long distance were largely on target, and it's a matter a time before he scores. Already claimed an assist for his free kick , converted by Suarez.

Downing: How long have LFC waited for an out-and-out winger. Rattled the cross bar once, and tried to pass to Carroll. Mixed performance - seemed to drift in and out of the game.

Enrique: Called into action immediately after the resident sick note got injured again. Most impressive of the summer's buy as he was assured in defence. Looks very strong.

Kenny Dalglish rose to defend his players - blaming nerves and long summers as well as the missed red card. Next week's game will need to see Liverpool rising to the occasion.

My verdict: It's a work in progress. We sit pretty in 3rd place in the table now, and if we end there that will be a decent finish.

On transfer related news, the great Dane has admittedly to looking to further his career away from Anfield, while Gary Cahill scored.

Other results : QPR was taken apart easily, while Barton kept the spotlight on himself and Wenger.

Today's Foss (11/08/2011)

2011-08-11T12:01:00.000+08:00

Today's Foss (FOotball gOSSip) is brought by...USA drawing 1-1 with Mexico. Good start for the California residing ex-Spurs current Team USA coach Mr. Klinsmann.

Twitter is buzzing with rumours concerning spaniards. That's righth, not one, but two Foss-worthy spaniard.

First and foremost, looks like Enrique the want-away football star, currently of Newcastle FC, wishes to part ways with the Magpies to keep company a certain ex-Toon company at Liverpool. 6.5 million should so the trick. Complete this, and Liverpool will have 4 left footed players in the first eleven. Bring on teams with dodgy right backs.

See his favorite foot?

The educated feet of Mr. Fabregas looks set to complete his childhood reunion with fellow child prodigy Lionel Messi at tiki-taka capital. Price being bandied around is 35 million euros plus 5 million euros of Cesc' own money. Looks like he's desparate enough to leave Arsenal , but while Arsene liberate him?

Can playful banter turn into reality?

The final sad rumor is that this weekend's game may be called off due to hoody wearing hooligans. Ecclestone says that would be akin to the hoodies winning. I say public safety always comes first.

Fantasy Football!

2011-08-10T14:55:00.000+08:00

If, like me, you rant after your favorite team's manager for picking the wrong players for the wrong position, fantasy football gives YOU the opportunity to show off your managerial acumen.

There are plenty of chances for you to join these fantasy leagues. Some, like http://fantasy.premierleague.com/, offers prizes on hand for the winners. This way, you get to indulge in your passion and win prizes for it. Others, like the one I join , http://uk.premiership.fantasysports.yahoo.com/ offers nothing but bragging rights. The premiership fantasysports offering is also available as a Facebook app.

The idea behind fantasy football is simple. You are given a transfer budget, and you need to build your dream team of players. So long as you adhere to the standard number of players per position, as well as stick to an acceptable formation without breaking the bank, you're set. The performance and availability of players in real life will be reflected in your scores every week.

I'm one a great fantasy football player - I'll admit that. I was simply too lazy/busy to nurture my team throughout the season.

I do have friends who are great at it - and here are some of their tips.

1. Be an objective manager, and not be a fan of a manager.

You support a particular team, and you will be tempted to pick your players for your own team. This works if your favorite team has very good players, but many backfire if you support a weaker team.

2. Have a system

Choose early on if you want to focus on strikers, midfield or defense. Each fantasy football league has it's own way of scoring, most of which are quite balanced in terms of rewarding attacking play versus defensive play. Better players cost more

3.Manage injuries

I would recommend www.physioroom.com to keep track of your player's injuries. An injured player will not play a game, or will start off the bench.

4.Look for hidden gems

Lots of mid-table teams have a star player who's Steven Gerrard like in selection and contribution. For example, Clint Dempsey in Fulham and Charlie Adam in Blackpool last season. These players play as long as they're fit, so you get the selection points. Frequently, the team is also built around them, so they will see more of the ball and will deliver accordingly

5.Look to the past

Most if not all of the fantasy football sites offer historical data - this will give you a good idea of who has performed well in the past. Big name players in real life sometimes offer little in fantasy football. A good example will be defensive midfielders who are expected to score goals or to provide the killer final pass. Tackles won are often not awarded points.

6.Remember, it's a dynamic league

Player's performance will drop , and injured players likewise will heal and be ready for selection. Once the previously injured player is back for selection, snatch them up before their value rises.

7.Think outside the box

Look for off-field opportunities. Some player may rise to prominence as senior players are sold late in the transfer window (I'm taking a chance on Ramsey becoming a major player for Arsenal once Fab and Nasir leaves). Look for a good shot-stooper, who saves heaps of attempts , though he is in a weak team.Look at players from unfashionable teams who's in the team of the week. Improvise.

8.Min-Max

This is an optimizing technique - here you sacrifice by choosing very cheap players for each category, in order to free up funds for a "maximized" marque player. This is a better approach than fielding average players - the "minimized" cheap players can warm the bench for you , while average players will give you average results.

FOSS of the day: 9/8/2011

2011-08-09T14:57:00.000+08:00

It's been a distracting day. News of the night-time riots in London, Birmingham , Manchester and of course in Liverpool put my normal pre-occupation with transfer news in perspective.

The FA is supposedly about to make an announcement in Wembley concerning Wednesday's friendly versus Holland. My take on it is simple - do not continue with the friendly. The metropolitan police are needed on the streets to combat the opportunistic tugs and looters, and can't be spared for crowd policing duties.

Lots of rumors continue to be spread concerning this weekend's shut out of BPL matches. Again, public safety is paramount. A week's late start must be accommodated

And finally, I would agree wholeheartedly with Rio Ferdinand and Rooney's call for calm. I only hope that their voice of reason will not be lost in the maelstrom of madness.

Dream job for the armchair football analyst

2011-08-08T14:53:00.000+08:00

You've always wanted to join a football club and work there for a living.

Unfortunately, hours spent honing your skills on the pitch were instead spent learning useful skills like mathematics, statistics and data mining in the university of your parents' choice. Perhaps a sports science degree would have allowed you to become a trainer, coach , physio or conditioner.

If you can't handle the physical side, then perhaps the glamour side would work out if you looked like her:

The very bubbly guide during the LFC Stadium Tour

So what is left to do? If you love gardening and upkeeping, you could do a job as the groundsmen or facility management person.

Or you can pursue a career as a Performance Analyst. It'a a job that's only came about 10 years ago when companies like Prozone Sports begun compiling information on what players do before, during and after the game. Measurements such as total distance covered, number of crosses, number of passes completed, interceptions...all the staple of Football Manager inspired metrics are there. All these data needs to be analyzed and made useful to the owners, coaching staff and players.

Where do you begin? Get trained for the job by pursuing a degree in performance management.

Middlesex, Cardiff, Nottingham on Trent, - these are but a sample of universities offering a MSc in Performance Management.

Interviews with Performance Management often share on internships, and offering to work for free with local clubs to get practical experience before hunting down your dream job.

How's life as a Performance Management analyst?

Here, http://www.prozonesports.com/news-article-a-decade-of-performance-analysis-development.html

and here, gives a snapshot of this: http://www.careers-in-sport.co.uk/performance-analyser/typical-day.html

Manchester City FC pays between 23K-33K pound per year for your services as an analyst.

But to come to work at your favorite club? That's priceless. There's hope yet for the legion of armchair analyst yet.

Finally a clean sheet!

2011-08-08T12:27:00.000+08:00

Football season is finally here! My weekend ritual of saying goodnight to the missus while staying up till 2:30 am (for a late kick off) on a Saturday or Sunday night is back on.

I watched Liverpool's friendly win over Valencia with a fair mix of expectations and dread. Surely this game would have seen Liverpool's first team take on the opposition with purpose and intent? Say goodbye to the shop window guys.

A good first goal by Carroll was the result of high tempo passing, vision and one bad pass. Valencia was running on 2nd gear at most, while the team was almost match fit. If Johnson does not make it on Saturday, Kelly would be a good replacement , especially with Kuyt on duty as defensive RM.

My observations:

Henderson looks quite ill suited on RM, the boy needs to learn fast. I don't think he will start versus Sunderland.

Downing is the player we have been missing for such a long time now. Top performance, and he easily overshadowed Mata who looks light weight.

Adam and Aquilani looked anonymous to me.

Spearing is an able deputy for Lucas.

Oh, how we missed Lusa. He shields the back four effectively and must be considered an integral part of the team.

Bring on the new season!

Art of the modern deal

2011-08-08T12:07:00.001+08:00

"Barcelona sold striker Bojan Krkic to Roma today in a complicated deal that could net the Spanish club €40m - or cost them €1m.

Barcelona said in a statement that the Serie A club agreed to the €12 million transfer, which includes an obligatory buyback clause at the end of the 2012-13 season when Krkic would cost the Spanish champion €13 million. But if Roma blocks the move, the value of the original transfer increases to €40 million."

(Sourced from http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/barcelona-sell-bojan-krkic-to-roma-in-complicated-deal-2318848.html)

What does this all mean? For Roma, they get the services of Bojan for one season, while loaning Barcelona 12 million Euro to be repaid with one million Euro interest. For Barca, it's an immediate cash injection of 12 million Euro while developing Bojan further. Details are not known as to who will be paying Borjan's wages, nor how much he would be paid.

This would be interesting in the face of the European Financial Fair Play deal - for Barca it's earnings for the immediate season, while payback could well be deferred to this season comes season 2012/2013. Win-win?

It used to be that loan deals with wages shared, first refusal rights on re-transferring a former player, shared transfer revenue, and even shared ownership; were the epitome of football financial deals. I predict that the Financial Fair Play deal will just result in trickier accounting while smaller clubs enjoy no real protection.

Today's Foss (Football + Gossip)

2011-08-04T16:48:00.000+08:00

So, King Kenny unveiled his new players - bought for a total of anything between 50-60 million pounds, depending on which newspaper hack you believe in.

Each player gave encouraging sound bits along the lines of wanting to win trophies for the club, the influence of Kenny as manager and most importantly the willingness to work hard.

Kenny Dalglish's height is listed as 173 on wikipedia , one whole cm taller than me. This helps me put the height of Adam in perspective - he looks shorter on field.

So, the Foss for today is : Gary Cahill or Ryan Shawcross coming in, with more links for Joe Cole to move back to London. Which is more believable? I think yesterday's Foss on Enrique is the most believable for now.

Goodbye Jovanovich, Hello Enrique?

2011-08-03T12:14:00.000+08:00

Liverpool FC has made an official announcement that Jova will be leaving the club.

Liverpool confirmed this evening they have reached agreement with Anderlecht for the transfer of Milan Jovanovic.

I remembered cheering for him when he scored versus Germany in the World Cup, telling all and sundry that he's a LFC signing. He had impressive stats at Standard Liege, having scored 52 goals in 116 appearances. Unfortunately he had a torrid time at the club, finding very little playing time - 13 appearances mostly as a sub , forced to play as a left winger. While Dirk Kuyt made the transition from a striker to a defensive right midfielder, Jova did not. He's a hard working player who did not make the cut. All the best then Jova, and thanks for your contribution.

At the same time, news of a deal for Newcastle's Enrique continues to draw momentum. Many reports suggest that he will be unveiled come Thursday or Friday. Enrique had a good season last year, and he should provide both Reina and Carroll good company. I have yet to see much of him in actual play, but at the very least he seems an improvement over Insua and young Robinson.

Friendlies

2011-08-02T11:11:00.000+08:00

11 days to go before the season kicks off in Anfield , against Big Bruce's Sunderland. This tie has it's share of drama with lingering feelings of disbelief following the beach ball own goal. Alas, what do we do till then?

Valencia FC comes a visiting next. It will be imperative to not allow goals to be scored as teams after teams in succession has put 3 goals past the Liverpool keepers - including the mighty Reina. I'm hopping we don't regret passing off on Mata, if it's true that he has a lesser selling price before August 2011. Time will tell if Henderson makes the grade or not.

So what good does friendlies do? It allows rabid fans who are staying far away from Liverpool to see their beloved players in the flesh, with the accompanying financial benefits. More shirts to be sold !

It's also about fitness and selling off fringer players. For the former, most of the new buys seems to be match fit - including Mr Carroll. The latter has yet to see much success, with the likes of Deggen and Poulsen still very much in the team.

All said, there's a silver lining behind all the defeats and draws this friendly season. Kenny Dalglish understands the work that needs to be done, and as fans, so must we. Managed expectations will give the team time to gel and to play freely without undue pressures.

On a final note, Lucas is sorely missed. He may pass sideways and back, but all those comes after he wins tackles - essential when shielding the likes of Carragher. Johnson needs more match fitness and tactical discipline, unless Kuyt is there covering for him. I like the Andy Caroll - Stuart Downing combo, while Adam need to show he can really fill in Alonso's boots. Aqualani is also a class act - shame he is in the shop window as well - I rate him more than Joe Cole.

Kopites are all in

2011-08-02T10:52:00.001+08:00

This year marks the culmination of a life-long dream to finally set foot in Anfield. To commemorate the occasion I decided to fulfill another long held desire which is to blog about the best club in the world. What can readers expect? My twitter stream features up-to-date rumors and match reviews done by the best in the business - my own postings would be more of my own views on happenings on and off the field, especially my gut reactions to how LFC fares.