Think About It.

It's not easy trying to predict the outcome of a derby, nor is it any easier writing up a preview.

I think the derby is a time when football defies logic. The countless own goals, hand-balls, penalties, uncalled-for errors, red cards, TESCO bags, squaring off neighbours on-field. It's just bloody insane.

The derby is about the fans, the atmosphere, the magic- everything that comes from the HEART.



So much about me supporting Liverpool FC didn't stem from the number of £20million signings or the trophies we bagged. I supported them from the heart. You can call it cheesy but I felt an instant connection with the club. To back that up, Man Utd's massive merchandising venture into the Asian markets never attracted me. Remember that store at One Utama? The first football player I was introduced to was Paul Scholes and did I give a shit? Fuck no. That 12 year-old boy could have done a presentation about David Beckham and I couldn't have cared less. I guess I was meant to be a Xabi Alonso fan all the while!

It's true that Liverpool have to credit their huge fan-base to the success they achieved in the 60s' to 80s' but we have entered an entirely different era. We have seen a slight evolution on how support is generated and I am part of that movement. I think quite a number of us are beyond the Michael Owens and the Fernando Torreses, even if that's how the support kicked-off. Victories and fancy players definitely make us happy but it can't be based solely on that. I love the club as a whole. I appreciate the culture, the history- right down to our very first janitor.

Support like that only strengthens an unspoken agreement we have with the club- that the Liverbird is etched forever in our hearts, regardless of the circumstances. It's strong enough to fend us from a bad post-match banter, the bullshit that circulates the media and nothing will ever wear it down. It isn't exactly something that can be explained but it feels as though the blood running through my veins are Liverpool-red. You can't bloody shake it off!

The same could probably be said with the supporters of other clubs. True fans- I call them, and we are known to have the best around the world. That's what makes Liverpool so special. This support is what makes us stick together whether are we anti-Rafa or pro-Rafa. We are proud to be called 'Liverpool fans'!

The sincerity emitted from the fans' support not only pierces through your team, but the opponents as well. When told that Chelsea recruit Yuri Zhirkov was overcome when he played at Old Trafford, Andrei Arshavin had said, "It's only because he hasn't played against Liverpool yet." The combination of your support, my support and their support is really that good. What is it about the small roles we play that isn't to be proud of? If you are still in doubt, I invite you to give your all and take the plunge anyway. You'll never know what you are going to get till you try!

All this will come together on Sunday night. Support matters. Torres or no Torres. Injuries or no injuries. Win or no win. You better be ready for it.



PS, Clearly, I am not the one you should be reading if you want a proper preview on the tactical side of football.

PPS, You did enjoy the 2-0 win over Manchester United, didn't you? Lighten up a bit. You took the good, it's only right to make space for the bad as well. My modern definition of the saying 'We are Liverpool' indicates that we can soak up more shite than this. We'll find our way back.

PPPS, There's no such word as 'irregardless'! :O

LMAO

Best justification ever.

. says: (3:38:59 AM)
cmonla peiru

. says: (3:39:00 AM)
cmon

. says: (3:39:06 AM)
you know me right

. says: (3:39:24 AM)
i shape my words like penises

. says: (3:39:43 AM)
that's an alternate way of saying talking cock.

Spoilt Little Brats, very true.

Here is an example of a ManScum who rarely watches football, is supposedly my good friend but only dropped me this message after months of being MIA. He also said the same thing when we suffered our first defeat of the season against Spurs. I can't fathom why a young man with so much potential would say such mundane things.



Anyway, here is something I found at RAWK. I think it's a brilliant article which justifies the current situation perfectly. 'GREED' and 'SPOILT' are words I would rather not have the club associated with but unfortunately- it has come to that.

Here's the original link to the excerpt below.

"Because of what Rafael Benitez has done to this club, you've now become like spoilt little brats. He's given you something you couldn't have dreamt about 5 years ago, but now you want more. Greed, greed and more greed.

Take a step back, look at who we're competing with, and try to realise the size of the task we've got. We've massively overachieved over the past few years, mainly due to his brilliant signings (although they are ignored so people can criticise free transfers like Voronin - also ignoring the fact he's only still at the club as the money Rafa had lined up for a new striker was taken out of his pocket in the summer).

In The League, we're now competing with Chelsea, United, Man City and Tottenham; all of whom have assembled a more expensive squad than our own and have a higher wage bill than ourselves. Aston Villa and Arsenal aren't far behind.

Man City and Tottenham have been underacheiving due to poor management and underperforming players in recent years; ourselves and Arsenal have been overachieving - mainly due to good management. United and Chelsea are doing what's expected of them.

Not only do people expect us to win The League with the 5th most expensive squad and 5th highest wage bill, but they also expect us to win The European Cup as well. Not asking much are you?

"But we're Liverpool"

Not anymore we're not. Not as you once knew it. We haven't been for over 20 years.

Were we "Liverpool" throughout the past 15 years before Rafa came to the club, when we didn't have a sniff of the league and were regularly knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the early rounds? If we'd even qualified for Europe at all.

The current media frenzy surrounding our manager has whipped up the hysteria so much that everyone you speak to seems to view Rafa Benitez as a figure of ridicule. Fans of every other club are in on the act, but it's not even close to listening to our own fans buying into it and being caught up in the media storm. Nobody seems to have a mind of their own anymore and are taken in by the media machine, sometimes without even realising. Look at the hysterical reaction to him bringing on Aquilani last night. Hysteria over a time wasting substitution in a game we'd just won!

You're disappointed we went out last night because of the high expectations our manager has set over his previous 5 years at the club. Before that it was deemed as a massive success to even qualify for the Group Stages, never mind qualify from them.

Under Roy Evans we broke the British transfer record. Under Houllier we spent big money on players. So while Benitez has spent around the £20m on Torres, Keane, Aquilani and Johnson, the bar has been raised to a completely different level by the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man United etc.

We've been left behind financially due 20 years of mis-management, but it's been made ten times worse over the past few years due to the leeches we now have as owners of our club that are slowly bleeding us dry.

Do you really think Rafa wanted to go into this season with one striker? Do you really think he wanted to sign an aging Greek centre half for £1.5m instead of Michael Turner for £4m? Do you really believe he didn't want to sign David Villa or David Silva in the summer?

In January Chelsea will go out and spend big money on new players. Man City will go out and spend big money on new players. Man United will go out and spend big money on new players.

Meanwhile, we'll just be hoping and preying that the players we have to sell don't go to one of the above!

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee for a lot of fans; time to wake up to the real issue and realise why we aren't going to be winning League Titles or European Cups for the foreseeable future.

The reason is not Rafael Benitez."

Debreceni 0-1 Liverpool

A couple of things I have in mind right now.

Liverpool rose to the occasion once more and bagged ourselves a victory against Debreceni. It was not enough. Lyon failed to level the score line against Fiorentina and we are now thrust into a whole new arena called the Europa League. Well, it isn't exactly new- just polished, shined and smacked on with a better name.

If you thrive on what the media has to say about the fans' reaction in general, you would think that each and everyone of us are pissed, disappointed and most probably going to have a terrible day at work tomorrow. I beg to differ.

Let me remind you this. Every single opinion of every single Liverpool fan on Earth counts. I won't deny that I have friends who are upset out there, but to hell with it. Give me a couple of minutes to compose myself and I would rather take the more optimistic route, support the club and see where that goes instead. Why pile on more unnecessary pressure? We are SUPPORTers, right?

Some prefer to support the club and only the club itself. I assume they mean the well-being of the club. If the owners or the manager isn't doing a good job- they have got to go. I don't actually have a very big issue with this but what ticked me off were the things they laid out against a pretty decent manager who is supposedly failing (can't believe I am using this word-the season hasn't even ended) this badly, for the FIRST time in five bloody seasons. Furthermore, they just assumed that he has reached his peak. What proof do you have of that? There are always ups and downs to the footballing world.

Forgive me for I am all but a newbie supporter *roll eyes* but clearly, it doesn't take years of fan-ship to see that it isn't the Liverpool way. I am not saying that they are wrong. It's just that I feel that Rafa's been done in. In my eyes, calling for the manager's head just because we find the club spiraling downwards reminded me of the primitive and sad practice of abandoning a wife just because she suffered a miscarriage.

Would you still call for his head if a fortune-teller told you that Rafa will make us the first ever winners of the Europa League?



Rafa has a lot to show and he has won the trust of many supporters. He deserves to be given time. The owners? They have shown us too little to win over the hearts of millions. I believe that Rafa is currently the only man brave enough to hold this club together. Everything is falling apart so I don't think it is good idea to ram down this sole remaining pillar of support. Even if he has been left with no choice but to head for the door, he will no doubt have my backing until the very end.

It is really not that bad a season, folks. Smacked right in front of us is a chance to create a new slice of history. There is nothing wrong with holding out with Rafa for another seven months or so. The best have to fall sometimes. What we need to do is to swallow that bitter pill, pull ourselves together and keep marching forward.