(H) Young Boys - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Liverpool 2-2 Young Boys
Liverpool Goals: Jonjo Shelvey (33), Joe Cole (72)
Young Boys Goals: Raúl Bobadilla (52), Elsad Zverotić (88)

There's frustration.  You get that with football teams sometimes, especially ones going through a period of transition.  This was different however.  When this game ended, there was nothing that could describe the way I felt more than abject fury.  That we could be so incompetent and ignorant of the situation, it's so incredibly upsetting especially because of how very possible we could be punished for it against Udinese.  At the very least we've been denied the chance to rest a few players ahead of that game, so it complicates matters further.  We didn't have enough about ourselves to hold on even though we had already won the game.  Twice.

No Luis Suarez in the line up was a peculiar one and in retrospect something you can point to and say that was a mistake.  Likewise his inclusion and any injury would have seen similar foul cries.  Personally I would have started him and I think that in leaving him out it made things harder than they should have been, that being said - the problems that we had in this game were born out of this decision; all that would come later.  Other than that it was as expected, the mixture of exciting youth talent and experience with some players that need the time to play themselves into form.  Shelvey up front was something I was quite tentative about but he is someone who has been in goalscoring form in this competition so there was some method behind it.

It was so close to being the worst start possible.  Young Boys wandered into midfield from kick off and played a ball in behind Andre Wisdom.  Had Zarate and Farnerud not fluffed their respective chances from here, we could so easily have been behind within the first thirty seconds.  Reina was called into action again a minute or so later, saving low down from a Bobadilla strike and Young Boys had started the game much the better side.  They were right in our faces when we had the ball and tried to rush our passing, not that we needed any incentive to give it away as we were being very sloppy in possession also.  It took a few minutes, but the game began to settle down somewhat as we got into it.  Jonjo Shelvey was working very hard to apply the pressure from the front and Joe Cole was showing some unforeseen mobility in behind.

Young Boys would have been encouraged by the way our midfield started the game, in that it didn't really begin to function.  So much has been said about all the experience we have in the side and that there were more than a handful of players who have played at the international level in that team but what it lacks so much in terms of balance is a voice in there - Carragher aside - who'll put their authority on it.  In the middle that really showed as the isolated talents of Jordan Henderson, Suso and Nuri Sahin saw an almost non existent barrier in front of the defence as they played through us.  Though they weren't marauding, given the problems we have had in defending the counter it will have been a worry to Rodgers that no-one got a grip on it early which was exactly what we needed under the circumstances.  You could argue that the only way these players are to develop a real command of that position however is to play in these kind of games and learn it.  That will mean however that we're going to see games - and patches of play like this - whereby things like this happen.

As for getting a foot into the game, we did so down the left hand side with Assaidi - and to a lesser extent Stewart Downing behind him - and after an initial burst Young Boys had backed off a little when we were in possession.  We'd managed to wake up from what was a very casual, lax start and aside from one failed pass inside from Andre Wisdom which gave the ball away in midfield but fortunately lead to nothing we were starting to keep possession much better and hold off our opponents.  Though they got back and defended in numbers when we knocked the ball around, their midfield was very narrow and this allowed some room in behind the fullbacks.  With no real striker it was a little difficult for us to have any real presence in the attacking third of the pitch but that being said with Joe Cole being very keen to run inside the defender it allowed Shelvey to come deep and knit the play together.  These two things came together beautifully as Cole's run down the channel was seen by Shelvey and he played him through only for the shot to go narrowly wide.  A promising start then from the much maligned former England international.

One of the things we've had a major problem with this season is the transparency with which we are forced into basic mistakes.  Opponents pounce on the smallest of errors and turn them into giant openings which we are then unable to deal with.  The biggest source of this is when it comes to playing it back to the goalkeeper.  When Carragher mistimes one and Reina is on his toes enough to recognize and see out the danger - something which has become a necessity rather than a good sign - at least we're aware of the play.  The real problem is when the ball comes back to Pepe a moment later and his clearance goes straight back to a yellow shirt and they are able to attack us once more.  We know they're going to put pressure on it and in just lumping it long we're achieving nothing that an initial punt up-field would accomplish.  Neither are what is required and most of the time it's about basic movement on the part of everyone else and the execution of a a simple pass.  It's not possible to play it on the floor all the time but we must get used to and be able to get around the kind of pressure that we know teams will put us under if we're trying to play this way.

From not being particularly fast to slowing down completely, the tempo of the game came to a halt as an injury to Dušan Veškovac saw him stretched off the pitch.  As the ball was running out of play he attempted to back heel the ball into Assaidi who was chasing behind and in turn pulled his hamstring.  Having been involved in the pain of one their players, Ousamma Assaidi was minutes later causing more problems for the Young Boys defenders, his close control being too much for them but his eventual ball through arrived at the feet of an offside Joe Cole.  If that was a chance that was created by persistence with Assaidi trying to bulldoze his way through then the next one was as precise and skilled as you can get.  The ball was played in from the left hand side to Jonjo Shelvey, who had the vision and talent to see Henderson running in behind him.  His back heel was perfectly executed and then saw Henderson through on goal.  The one thing that was missing from the whole thing was a finish as Jordan then saw his shot saved.

Fans of different football teams don't often get along.  Despite the fact that we share the same interests, there will always be that dividing line.  However, there are occasions - and Europe appears to be where they come up the most - where supporters of other clubs endear themselves.  The Young Boys fans unveiled a banner in memory of the Hillsborough victims, which was warmly applauded around the stadium.  It was a nice gesture and something that you don't forget in a hurry.  The game itself was becoming a rather slow affair with either side taking turns in roaming into attacking areas but were both lacking in the cutting edge to really make anything count.  Liverpool did look the brighter when they were attacking, mostly because of the fact that Young Boys were pressing so high on the occasions we were able to get it beyond the half way line there was space there to exploit.  Andre Wisdom was the one who continually found himself with that room to manoeuvre and it was on the half hour mark that he had to be taken off - for what appears to be a precautionary injury - with Steven Gerrard as his replacement.

The substitution meant that there would be a reshuffling in midfield and I have to say I felt sorry for Jordan Henderson.  Having watched him out there against Swansea despite my initial excitement to see him play in that position I think it's a massive waste of what he can do and could potentially damage his confidence further.  That being said, it didn't take long for the team to click into gear once the changes had been made and with it came the first goal of the game.  Joe Cole and Suso played a lovely one-two on the outside of the penalty area to get Cole in on goal and as the goalkeeper came out he shifted it across goal for Jonjo Shelvey to head into the net.  Having taken the lead without overly exerting our power, it was now about doing the simple things right - with Sahin tackling well in the middle of the park and Skrtel easing off Bobadilla as they tried to put him through over the top.

If we're ever to cast aside this idea of teams coming back onto us late in games then what we should be aware of is that despite having taken the lead and the confidence that comes with that, we still need to be just as clinical when we're a goal up as opposed to being level.  Suso ran in between a few defenders and his powerful deflected shot could have gone anywhere but instead earned a corner, from which Joe Cole had a golden opportunity to double the lead but instead saw his shot blocked as he went for placement over power.  At the back we were again guilty of being a little too casual in playing it out but fortunately for us Young Boys never really had any quality to punish us with.

Settling with playing on the counter attack for what remained of the half, it was Suso who could have put the game to bed completely right before half time.  Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Cole knitted the play together before sending Suso through on goal.  The keeper was beaten all ends up but his shot drifted just wide.  It's the kind of composure that will come with experience but on this occasion with the game situation as it was, a calmer older head could have ended the game as a contest.  As it was, there was very little of substance that remained until the break but still we went in a goal to the good and forty five minutes to see out the result that would see us through to the next round.

The restart saw our Swiss opponents pressing high up the pitch right from kick off and trying to make it increasingly difficult for us to play around at the back.  This eventually led to Pepe Reina coming out of his goal to sweep up the trouble and clear the ball in conjunction with Jordan Henderson.  Once again the midfield three looked to be backing off a little and even with both Gerrard and Sahin in there, Young Boys were able to get into the space just ahead of our defence and let fly with a couple of powerful long range efforts.  Zverotić and Farnerud both had Reina scrambling as we appeared to have switched off completely. That being said, the first chance of the half did fall to a red shirt.  Suso played the ball through to Joe Cole in between the defender and left back only for Wölfli in goal to race out to prevent any clear cut shot.  It would then prove to be our downfall as Farnerud picked up the ball in midfield, ran some fifteen yards unchallenged and then put one over the top for Bobadilla.  Henderson was caught massively infield for the second time in a matter of minutes only this time we were made to pay.  The first touch was great and the angle difficult but the Young Boys striker hit it powerfully across Pepe Reina to level the match and again throw the group wide open.

A lot of the blame - both for that goal and what happened subsequently - has been levelled at the feet of Henderson and while it's right that he was caught out for that incident, there were other - more worrying - things to consider.  Right after the goal with Young Boys clearly lifted by the goal, we found ourselves yet again being pressed high up the pitch.  When our defenders have the ball, there is a really concerning tendency of our midfield to turn their backs on the play, or even jog into areas of the pitch where we can't play the ball.  It's all well and good trying to play someone into space but first they have to find it in the first place.  Also, with a stand in right back on the field, the person ahead of him or one of the midfielders should come over to help out and yet there was a huge gap on that side of the pitch between Henderson and Cole.  I know full well that Cole hasn't got the legs to get up and down but that's something we should recognise, especially if our opponents have clocked on to it and are using it as a base camp to flood the midfield.

There was a period of time after the goal where it looked like we may be overwhelmed.  Eventually a few counter attacks of our own materialized and with them back in their own half we were able to force them back easier.  Though the danger of them running amok in our midfield still remained, Nuri Sahin was doing his best to stop the threat before it could materialize and allowed us to retain possession.  We'd managed to get the ball back into the attacking third of the pitch once more but our quality all but deserted us, with Assaidi unable to control a simple pass from Martin Skrtel and Downing tamely shooting well wide from outside the area.  Reinforcements were needed and they were called for in the shape of Luis Suarez, who came on for Suso with about thirty minutes remaining.  He immediately again nearly played Assaidi down the left hand side but the Moroccan once more failed to make the most of it.  At the very least, the tide had begun to turn.

Slowly but surely we began to exert some pressure once more.  Aided by some rather anxious defending brought upon by Suarez's arrival onto the pitch we were able to have a succession of corners and free kicks, most of which seemed to underline the fact that Wölfli wasn't very convincing when it came to dealing with crosses.  With Young Boys now somewhat pinned back into their own half, Martin Skrtel was enjoying the freedom to come forward with the ball at his feet and it was from here that we eventually scored once more. He exchanged passes with Joe Cole at first and then Luis Suarez, before it was switched out wide to Stewart Downing.  The ball was played back inside to Suarez - who was now inside the penalty area - and he held it up nicely before laying it back to Steven Gerrard.  Joe Cole's movement had seen him go from the right hand touchline to a gap inside the box on the left hand side and when Stevie played the ball inside to him he swivelled and forced the ball beyond the Young Boys goalkeeper to give us that lead once more.

As stories in games go, this one felt complete.  The idea that this game was about whether or not we could manage to go in front once more or not and now that we had I didn't think Young Boys had enough in them for this game to have any further twists.  They set about playing long balls from deep right on the half way line while we looked solid in our shape behind it all and moments later Raheem Sterling was summoned to come on for Joe Cole.  After everything that had gone on - or not as the case may have been - in Joe Cole's Liverpool career, it was nice to be able to give him a hearty applause for a solid committed performance for which he was rewarded with the goal that was to put us through.  A solitary goal in a Europa League group stage wasn't a particular high for him to bow out but at least he was going out on one at all.  Such a shame then that the few minutes that remained would spoil all that.

For the most part we passed around them with ease and they did try to create some pressure on us when we had it around our defensive third but there was no real cause for panic.  They did manage to disrupt our flow with a couple of soft free kicks, firstly in their own half to send us back into our own half and then another moments later to give them a chance to mount an attack of their own.  There was cause for concern from this set piece as Pepe Reina came out into no man's land and was nowhere near the ball but thankfully Jamie Carragher won the header rather than Bobadilla.  Neither side was being particularly protective of the ball and that the game was being played at any tempo at all rather than us just keeping the ball and keeping it was a sign of things to come.  Henderson found himself caught up-field after we'd tried unsuccessfully to mount another attack and Skrtel was caught in two minds as to whether to go out wide or hold his position.  In the end he ended up doing half of both and it led to a scramble on the edge of our penalty area where fortunately there were enough red shirts back to deal with it.

Young Boys didn't want to play through us, they were happy to have that area in between defence and attack and we were happy to give it to them.  At this late stage of the game it really should have been swarming with players from both sides so that they had no real space to do anything with.  Despite Reina's earlier flap I think we would have been much better off dealing with crosses as they only really went for one in the time that remained and Henderson cleared it just in time.  Other than that there were a queue of Young Boys attacking players waiting for the time and space to let one fly from twenty or so yards.  Zverotić hit one into the arms of Reina before Bobadilla smashed one well wide.  If we needed any insight as to how they would go about getting back into the game it was right before our eyes.  Still we didn't heed the warnings.

The dilemma of whether to push forward and try to put the game beyond all doubt and risk being countered or sit back and invite the pressure only has one right answer, whichever one leads to victory.  In saying that we were wrong to push forward is half right it's more the way in which we left ourselves exposed and our response to that which infuriated and was to cost us dearly.  The first time it became apparent - though in no way threatening for we won a free kick in the process - was with five minutes to go when Assaidi, Sterling, Suarez and Gerrard are all strung along the Young Boys penalty area.  With no immediate support from the full backs, this leaves acres of space for any break and only Shelvey and Sahin to cover the entire width of the pitch.  Gerrard's subsequent free kick went miles over and was as bad an effort for some time.  But nowhere near as bad as what was to come.

Three times in succession we gave it away with players out of the game high up the pitch.  Bearing in mind here that there was little over three minutes to go in a game we've already won.  The first two times we were able to get away with it because first Sahin and then Shelvey were able to win tackles that prevented them from going any further.  We would not be so lucky a third time.  When the ball was lost, Assaidi was as far forward as any Liverpool player and the gap between he and Downing was like a chasm.  Young Boys switched it from their left to right, whereby Assaidi was now running back to put a foot in.  Both he and Sahin slid in and missed challenges.  It should be pointed out at this point that Gerrard who had given the ball away and Shelvey who was no more than five yards away, were both strolling back with no urgency whatsoever.  With Sahin - our only midfielder trying to affect the game - now out of it, Zverotic exchanged passes with Bobadilla on the edge of the box before firing it through a crowd and beyond Pepe Reina.  It was as preventable a goal as we've conceded for some time and one that could very well cost us a place in Europe.

Still we could have rescued it.  There have been stranger things to happen at Anfield on European nights but it wasn't to be.  A few wasted crosses and a free kick which saw shots blocked by both Suarez and Henderson were all we managed to muster.  So now we have to go to Italy and better Young Boys result in order to progress.  It's not so much this kind of challenge that bothers me and more so how it will affect us in the league.  We held our fate in our hands and with ten minutes to go could easily have qualified with no worries but now all that's up in the air and we only have ourselves to blame.  Incredibly frustrating and very avoidable.  I'm hoping that we move on now and really learn from those mistakes.  If we fail to correct them, our next opponents have already shown how they can punish us.

(H) Anzhi Makhachkala - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Liverpool 1-0 Anzhi Makhachkala
Liverpool Goal: Stewart Downing (53)

From potentially hanging on by a thread to now looking in complete control for progression to the next round.  Fortunes change fast in the world of football and by fielding a strong eleven the message from  Brendan Rodgers that he wanted to give both the competition and our opponents a lot of respect - even with a Merseyside derby to contend with - was loud and clear.

European games tend to be a lot more methodical and everything - at least on face value - is at a much slower pace.  With that in mind, coupled with the fact that Anzhi backed off almost immediately, it didn't take  long for our assured passing game to begin, albeit with no real tempo.  Shelvey was keen to get forward right from the off while Sahin and Gerrard sat a little deeper and with Agger allowed to stride forward and dictate the play.  The couple of occasions they did manage to get onto the ball it was a complete reversal in approach, hitting it high and hopeful.  One of the good things about all those we had in defence is that not only are they athletic but all of them are strong enough so that this wouldn't be an issue.  Wisdom in particular is incredibly encouraging with his confidence and overall dominance.

Though we weren't getting the ball forward to him as often as he would have liked, Suarez - as ever - was looking lively.  He's a perfect outlet on the counter attack, able to not only create something for himself but skilled enough to hold it up while the rest of the team catches up with play.  Gerrard meanwhile was a little looser with his passing than you would have liked, but this was early on and it was more of a case of rustiness than trying something overly elaborate.  Anzhi worked very hard off the ball - which was a large majority of the time - and made it difficult for us to get it into any real area of danger.  Suarez did have one chance, linking up with Glen Johnson - who spent most of his time in the attacking part of the field - but the eventually shot was handled well by the goalkeeper.

Without going overboard, as far as first impressions go, Oussama Assaidi has made a very bright start to his Liverpool career.  He's everything you would want in a player that arrived for a fairly modest fee and offers something we've been lacking in the wide areas for some time now.  If we can get him isolated with the full back, his ability to go either way and create space with quick feet and an even sharper mind then that's something that could really hurt teams.  Assaidi does appear to have a lot of tricks in his locker and aside from having a genuine goalscoring touch - and even that's too soon to really be able to tell - Brendan Rodgers may have unearthed a gem.

Referees get far too much attention for the job they are doing.  If you're even aware of who the man in charge is, then he's not doing a good enough job of controlling the game.  Despite the fact that they make life increasingly difficult for themselves - what with something that is an incredibly challenging task in the first place - one thing that helps is when everyone knows early on exactly what to expect.  Bas Nijhuis, our Dutch official for the evening, was keen to let play continue at every opportunity.  Stewart Downing out muscled Yuri Zhikov and nothing was given, likewise a similar challenge on Luis Suarez moments later.  Both would have probably been fouls in a domestic setting and while it's not ideal to have things go unpunished, so long as both teams are playing under the same circumstances in the end what happened was it let the game flow.

It's been a while since Nuri Sahin arrived at Anfield from Madrid and having now had a chance to settle into the team, it does appear as if he looks a lot more comfortable with what's being asked of him.  Against West Brom in the League Cup, he took on the attacking role and really dominated the game but there were other times when it appeared he wasn't quite to grips with the more physically demanding stuff that was required of him. There had been signs of it in previous matches but here it looked more natural as he was constantly available for a pass and quick to cover on the handful of occasions in which they tried to break on us.

The shape of the team on the ball is something of a complete turnaround to that which we line up with initially.  It begins and ends with the fullbacks.  Glen Johnson goes high up and becomes practically a wide forward, while Wisdom tucks in a little and there's something of a back three there - with either he or one of the midfielders on hand at any given moment should anything dangerous arise.  Though we did have a lot of the ball, there was very little in the way of real quality from either side as both teams took their time to get into it.  Being the home side we had the more natural bite to our play, especially when our off the ball pressure allowed us to run at their defenders.  Despite having numbers back, there were plenty of occasions where we could exploit gaps in between their midfield and defence in playing the ball through to Suarez but every time we did someone was quick to come out and make sure he couldn't turn to face goal.  One such incident on the twenty minute mark saw Christopher Samba booked for a challenge on Suarez, the exact type of foul you don't want to see on your only recognised forward.

One aspect that will really have pleased the manager was the sheer hunger and ferocity with which we pressed the ball and looked to win it back.  Gerrard and Shelvey were taking turns in getting forward and while we had decent support for the attack it did play into their hands a little and made the area surrounding the Anzhi goal very crowded indeed.  The one time we managed to steal the ball in transition and counter it did look as if there would be some reward as Suarez laid the ball through to Shelvey on the edge of the box with very little in front of him.  Unfortunately the resulting shot was a little reckless and went flying over the bar.  Having bedded their way into the game, Anzhi were looking more comfortable and did start to threaten but you would have to say that it was difficult for them to get anything other than half chances.  Eto'o as you'd expect was at the heart of what little they did create but he was dropping so deep to receive the ball in the first place there were so many players in between he and the goal it was asking too much of even someone of his ability.

With so many men behind the ball, after the half hour mark and only infrequent pressure on the Anzhi goalkeeper, there was a degree of impatience that crept into the play.  Suarez and Downing were both guilty of playing passes in an attempt to force the issue that just gave the ball back to our opponents.  They did have one decent opportunity from a free kick that was resoundingly cleared by Gerrard.  From here - for the first time in the match - there was a huge gap down the right hand side that could have been exploited, were the pass of any quality whatsoever.  As it was we were able to keep them at arms length while being fully aware of their growing confidence.  Defensively they worked extremely hard and funnelled our play into the middle where there would be too many bodies in the way for anything to arise.  Both Downing and Assaidi were forced inside but what we managed to do was stay patient and moments later Glen Johnson got in behind.  What happened next was unfortunate, with Johnson about to pull the trigger he was either clipped by the defender behind him or miscalculated and ended up poking a leg out at fresh air.  A penalty would have been harsh but it was a reminder that if we kept our heads there was enough there to be encouraged by.

The three in the middle had gone a little quiet as we approached half time.  Sahin in particular was finding things increasingly difficult as time went on with a few challenges that left him cold as the game passed him by somewhat.  Finding space was at a premium and so when Daniel Agger came bursting through into the Anzhi half and kept going, the invitation to shoot was too great to pass up.  I've seen up close just how good of a shot he has on him and while this wasn't his best effort, if they would continue to allow him such freedom then that would come back to haunt them.  Just before the half was over there was another final step up in the pressure off the ball as we looked to profit with the interval looming.  However, there wasn't the same kind of application when we did manage to get it.  The final chance of the half fell to Smallov when Anzji countered with real purpose for the first time but his drilled effort went just wide.  Goalless at the break and every bit as tight as it had promised to be.

As the players emerged for the start of the second half there was a new face ready to join them.  A move that came completely out of the blue, Raheem Sterling came on for Glen Johnson meaning Stewart Downing was now playing at left back.  Whether or not this was a tactical switch and Johnson is simply being rested for Sunday I'm not sure but I certainly hope it's nothing more than that.  Things were quiet when they did get under way for the second half, both sides again taking a minute or two to feel their way back into things.  It was a bounding Martin Skrtel that brought things to life, with Samuel Eto'o ball watching on the edge of his penalty area the Slovakian defender burst through with the ball and fired a really powerful shot at Gabulov who just about prevented it from then going beyond him.  What that had done was wake both the crowd and team up.  There was another, even better chance following that when Stewart Downing's clearance was flicked on by Sterling and Shelvey put Gerrard in only for his header to go just wide.  There was a sense that the momentum was building inside Anfield.  It was about to get even better.


I'm at a loss to explain exactly why I like Downing at left back so much.  Perhaps it's because he's not allowed to drift through games anonymously and it forces him to play a semi-prominent role in the game.  It's not something you're ever likely to try against a Man United or Barcelona - unless injuries ravaged the team -  and such he's more than capable of doing a job there.  So far he's done more than that, he appears to have found his goalscoring touch again, with his second European goal of the season lighting up Anfield.  It was a sharp switch of play after a free kick on the right hand side that saw Downing pick the ball up on the left touchline.  After facing up with his defender for a second, he drifted inside and fired a curling shot beyond the goalkeeper to give us the lead.

So many times we've seen this season that in the minutes immediately following a goal, it's imperative that the team remains focused.  Not only that, Suarez very nearly doubled the lead with a powerful shot of his own from the edge of the box.  Having been allowed the space to pick up the ball in the first half, he's clever and skilful enough to leave himself that extra half a yard that allowed him to turn and get the shot away.  Three sides of the ground thought it was in but sadly the lead remained only by the solitary goal.  Anzhi's response to going behind was a little puzzling.  While they were getting a decent share of the ball, there was no real craft about their play and it didn't appear as if there was any real idea as to how to break us down.  Whenever they tried to play a hopeful ball in to try and cause havok, we had the strength to deal with it and persist with trying to win or at the least get a block on the second ball.  What didn't help was the fact that Eto'o was getting further and further away from goal.

As if a switch had been flicked, the game was alive and there was a bright tempo to our play both on and off the ball.  The lead allowed us to sit in a little and catch them on the break, which looked like giving them problems on every occasion.  Assaidi and Suarez combined to put in Shelvey, who was at a difficult angle and maybe could have found Suarez, although that's potentially being overly critical.  When they did get it, the hunger and desire to win it back was there for all to see, Gerrard chasing defenders some thirty yards to put a foot in before the monolithic like figure of Andre Wisdom would step in and have the power to make sure no Anzhi player would be coming near the ball.  It really is an endearing sight to see this essentially teenage boy play with such intelligence and a grasp of the game beyond his years.

With the pattern of the game now set and our main attacking threat being the counter, it meant that Anzhi had a decent amount of possession.  They were camped somewhat just outside our penalty area without every really looking dangerous, quite literally on the outside looking in.  Shelvey had another half chance on the counter before Guus Hiddink decided it was time for a change.  The six foot eight inch Lacina Traore came onto the pitch, his first contribution that rarest of gifts; a foul throw.  With an decided height advantage now at their disposal, Anzhi's play continued to be ever more one dimensional.  For some reason this prompted Eto'o to drop even deeper, to the point where he was the covering midfielder when Sterling tried to counter attack them.

It wasn't as if everything was perfect however.  Nuri Sahin had been something of a non factor in the second half and was growing increasingly frustrated.  It wasn't a case of the midfielder doing anything particularly wrong it's just that after a couple of contentious fouls given away, you could see that he was desperate to have more of a positive impact on the game.  Also, the lead wasn't exactly formidable and all it would take was a lapse in concentration for the game to potentially change completely.  Which is exactly what very nearly happened when Downing played a ball along the ground across the penalty area as we tried to play it out of the corner rather than just blasting it up field   The panic set in immediately and when Eto'o was played in it was with great relief that Jones claimed his shot fairly comfortably.

By now the earlier pressure had eased off a little and we were allowing them to have it in their own half.  A ball over the top looking for Traore might have caused a problem had his first touch been any better but Skrtel had him fairly well marshalled anyway.  Time was on our side now and with just over ten minutes to go Joe Allen came on for Jonjo Shelvey in an attempt to add some fresh legs and also someone who would protect the ball with what time did remain.  Simple short passes were the order of the day and as we played it around in our own half, Skrtel and Agger had split so wide that they looked part of a back four with Gerrard and Sahin as the centre halves.  Though there was pressure applied, we were good enough to play around it and create a chance for ourselves.  A corner was headed straight at the goalkeeper by Agger, who then followed up the play by heading it out of his hand before he could distribute and putting it into the net.  Rather than a goal bonus, this earned him a yellow card.  I'm not sure what the rules are in this situation specifically but I always thought that if he only had it in one hand then it was fair.  As it was, the lead remained at only one.

Having not been able to underline our superiority, Anzji were starting to knock on the door however and had really upped their game as it entered the final stages.  A succession of corners raised the tension inside Anfield and the play that followed forced Martin Skrtel into action after Gonzalez had made some room for himself down the right hand side of the penalty area.  Soon afterwards Daniel Agger was made to react when Anzhi managed to create some space on the left hand side and his challenge prevented it from making it's way to Traore.  Brad Jones didn't have a save to make but the pressure was certainly building.  We dealt with it primarily out wide with Assaidi and Sterling being the outlets.

Perhaps things would have been different had we taken a few more chances but regardless of the worries about playing Steven Gerrard for ninety minutes, he was still working hard as the game came to a close.  Despite spending the majority of his time chasing it at the back, Gerrard did find the balance in getting forward, having a typically powerful strike on the edge of the box that could very well have sealed it.  Allen and Sahin joined in, putting themselves about and coming into space so that we could see out the minutes that remained.  Sterling did have one final chance to wrap it up on the break as we went into injury time but he overplayed it and tried to go around too many bodies rather than playing it back to Suarez and keeping hold of it.  After losing at home to Udinese last time out, this victory and Young Boys managing to defeat them in Switzerland now mean that we top the group and suddenly qualification looks a little brighter.  Whether or not that will come at the expense of a performance in the league remains to be seen.  I certainly hope not.  It's Everton that await.

(H) Anzhi Makhachkala - Pre Match Thoughts

Europa League

Thursday 25th October 2012

Anfield

Liverpool VS Anzhi Makhachkala

Players can be challenged for ninety minutes but for the management, the difficulties span a lot longer time frame. Tonight is set up to be an intriguing game of football, not least of all because of the situation we find ourselves in domestically. It's not just any game that awaits us on Sunday, it's the derby. Brendan Rodgers needs to tred carefully.

Squad management is a neat phrase that has become football speak for the fact that we don't have the resources to win two games in a week. Not many teams do. Tonight is more than just an exercise in getting through the game, realistically we need to take something from it if we are to progress beyond the group stage. The likes of Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey and Oussama Assaidi will have our European fate in their hands and will have to show the manager whether they are capable of handling it.

 A lot has been spoken of the need for the more senior members of the squad to be as far away from this game as possible. Personally I wouldn't even have Gerrard or Suarez on the bench and it appears as though both may be starting. If that's the case then the hope will be that we can get onto the front foot early and take the game to them, wrap it up completely and be able to take them off with half an hour to go. I'd much rather do it this way than have to bring them on with the task of winning the game for us in the final twenty and overload them, but with Everton on Sunday I have to question the value of playing them at all.  Managers get paid to make these kinds of decisions, I don't.

 Anfield on a European night is always spoken about in glowing terms. For Anzhi, this is their first real test of being able to come to one of the truly great venues on the continent and getting a result. They will be motivated beyond belief and for once the atmosphere could work against us as it's something they will have been working on feeding off. Either way, up front they have Samuel Eto'o, one of the best goalscorers in the game. He alone, much like Di Natale for Udinese, is capable of winning this game and putting him up against Jamie Carragher could be a long nights work for the number 23. If we can keep him quiet, we'll have done a good job.

 The much maligned Europa League has been a wonderful adventure so far. Thirteen goals in two games ensures that the possibilities are endless tonight. The Merseyside derby looms large, as much as our grip in this competition is starting to loosen. Defeat would barring a miracle all but assure our exit, whereas if we stretch ourselves too thin, we may be playing into Everton's hands. Football is about being tested. This will be one hell of an exam.

(H) Reading - Pre Match Thoughts

Premier League

                                          Saturday 20th October 2012
                                                   Anfield

                                      Liverpool VS Reading

After being blunted by Stoke the team would have been eager to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.  Having had to wait two weeks for the opportunity, this game has been far too long in coming.  Three points are a must at this point with the league starting to take shape and the team languishing around in the bottom portion.  Nothing is ever that straightforward for us however.

First and foremost, the international break in between games has worked it's magic in disrupting the squad completely.  Borini broke a bone last Friday and will now be out for a few months, Pepe Reina seems to have somehow damaged a muscle in a game he wasn't even playing in and Luis Suarez will be knackered having travelled across the world and back and having played at altitude in the meantime.  On top of all that, there's also talk of Steven Gerrard needing a rest having ran himself into the ground for England against Poland.  

On that note, given his performance against Stoke it may be better to have Stevie as a weapon to come of the bench - we don't have many of those in our locker.  The team seems to have applied itself very well in his absence so far this season.  Jonjo Shelvey is back from suspension and riding high from his first international cap for England could come in to the midfield and hopefully do as well as he has managed in Europe this season.  So long as Agger and Skrtel aren't too banged up from their travels, we'll have the majority of a more than capable team out there.  If not, Brendan Rodgers may have to draw straws as to whatever side we're able to piece together.

It's unfair to ask any more of Suso and Sterling than already has been.  They've made their first ever Premier League starts, looked completely at home and done everything the manager could possibly have wanted.  Today, given the potential for Suarez to be tired - if not even on the bench altogether - then they're going to have to give a little more.  It could be the perfect chance for either of them to open their account for the club, given the fact that Reading will allow a little space and won't be as eager to kick lumps out of them.  On that very subject, wrapping this game up early may give us the chance to play Assaidi into some league form or even try and get Samed Yesil a run out.  Man United have a great record of blooding young players when the game is already won and whoever it is that makes the bench today will need the team to get the job done in the latter stages in order for them to show us exactly what they're capable of.  Once again support from midfield is going to be vital.  In order to get back up the table, we're going to need goals from all over the park and it's at home where people have to hit the ground running and put down a marker.

On paper, coming up against a newly promoted side at Anfield seems straightforward.  It's now gotten to the point however where we always find ourselves incredibly frustrated following the final whistle.  There is no aura of invincibility and teams believe that can come to us and get something out of the game.  That Reading are a side that will try and play a little football rather than shutting up shop completely is something that we may be able to exploit.  At the same time, this game has another aspect in that Reading are so intrinsically linked to our current manager.  Having cut his teeth as a coach for them at a much younger age, he then returned to manage them in 2009 and was shown the door within six months.  The circumstances for this are well documented but it's safe to say that both have gone on to brighter things.  

Reading are a team for whom it's very difficult to find a great deal of fault with.  Their manager is very charming, affable and tactically very sound and the team unit doesn't have much in the way of thuggery or the kind of unsavoury attitude you'd associate with a Stoke.  That being said, sport is no place for laying off or being in any way lenient.  We have to be professional about the job today and extra clinical with regard to putting the game to bed.  It's all about how early we're able to grab the initiative. We don't have to necessarily score early but goals will make the game so much easier and conversely the longer it stays goalless - or if we do the unthinkable and give them something to hold on to - then it will only get infinitely more difficult.  Having seen off some of the bigger teams in the league at Anfield and played well without anything to show for it and then been disappointed by our lack of a cutting edge against Stoke we need something of a happy medium today.  If there was ever a day for a straightforward, clean cut home victory, it's today.

(H) Udinese - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: Liverpool 2-3 Udinese
Liverpool Goals: Jonjo Shelvey (23) Luis Suárez (75)
Udinese Goals: Antonio Di Natale (46), Sebastian Coates O.G (70), Giovanni Pasquale (72)

Nothing in the game of football should be ever taken for granted.  A result is in doubt until those on the pitch put it beyond all realms of uncertainty.  That's why so many games that appear to be heading in one direction can suddenly turn on their heads at any given moment.  When you're dealing with a side that has so many players with lots to learn, this is a lesson they are going to have to take in very quickly.

Brendan Rodgers' starting line up came as no surprise to anyone, perhaps barring the inclusion of Glen Johnson and Joe Allen.  Those in the attacking areas of the pitch (Downing, Borini, Assaidi, Shelvey and Henderson) would be the ones whom the manager would be needing to perform against an Udinese side that may have been struggling in the league as of late but boasted a whole host of experience and as such could not be underestimated.

As for the game itself, Udinese began with a sharp aggressive tempo that forced us into playing it around a little quicker than even we would have wanted to.  So many teams have arrived at Anfield and completely frozen on the occasion so it was impressive to see them completely unwed.  While we were under pressure, there was enough composure there to evade it for the majority and with Borini up front drifting from side to side there was always an outlet for it to stick up front.  The Italians were quick to match up with our passing and had a little more fire in their bellies which we would have to subdue.

What was noticeable from the off was that the splitting of our centre backs was much more pronounced than it had been in previous matches and that Joe Allen was by far the deepest lying Liverpool player.  He was able to pick the ball up pretty much at will and with nobody tracking him was able to dictate the early goings.  The movement between he, Shelvey and Henderson looked very impressive as we got more into it.  All three would close the ball down in clusters and make it difficult for the opposition to work space while at the same time be concious of the fact that we needed people to close the space between the midfield and attack.

The first really good chances of the game came down the left hand side.  Assaidi had already shown his intent with a run across the edge of the penalty area that fizzled out before a few minutes later we got ourselves a corner down that same side.  Having been whipped in with some real pace, the ball was met by the head of Sebastian Coates who forced a great save from Željko Brkić in the Udinese goal.  Coates is such an aerial threat these days it's so encouraging to see.  He's approaching Sami Hyppia levels of dominance from corners that we haven't been properly able to replace since the big Finn left for Germany (although Skrtel is also getting there).  With one centre half nearly scoring  at one end, it was up to Jamie Carragher to deal with prevented one at the other.  If we didn't know it already - and it would certainly come into play later - Udinese are a great counter attacking side.

Both sides had settled although there had yet to be a real grip on the game by anyone.  What followed was the closest thing either side had managed to an onslaught, with Pepe Reina right in the thick of the action.  First there was a corner from which he tried to come through five players, failed and in the end just about got a glove onto it to half clear it only to be forced into a reaction save seconds later.  If that one wasn't exactly a confidence boosting showcase of dominance, the next one will have certainly helped a little on that front.  Antonio Di Natale's free kick on the right hand side of the penalty area looked for all the world like it would be converted by Mehdi Benatia only for Reina to at the last second palm it away at the far post.  He's not had everything all his own way so far this season but it was good to see a reminder of why he became such a fixed position in my mind as one of the best goalkeepers out there.

Something which really helped Udinese in pinning us back was the fact that when they would go forward, there would be a doubling up on our full backs.  For whatever reason, Assaidi and Downing were a little reluctant in getting close to their man - perhaps by design - as a midfielder, usually Jordan Henderson would stretch out the midfield and help out.  What this did was make it so that when we had the ball it was fairly easy to go down the centre of the park and look for an opening as we had a man advantage but when they were in possession we looked a little stretched and this allowed them to probe down the wide areas as well as the centre.

Having survived the opening exchanges, there was a real step up from the wide areas as we looked to assert some home authority on the game.  Downing was involved a little more, first providing a chance for Borini which led to a complete air shot before Assaidi and Robinson on the other side combined to good effect down the left.  As a result of this they started knocking the ball long for Di Natale to chase a little and this played into our hands perfectly and ultimately led to the opening goal.  We were taking turns going down one side and then the other, trying to find the right avenue that would lead to a goalscoring opportunity.  Jonjo Shelvey then picked the ball up in a pocket of space ahead of their back four and passed it off to Stewart Downing on the right hand side.  The ball into the box was a good one but Shelvey's run was even better.  Timed to perfection so that he could meet it with his head at exactly the right time to power home.  No matter what anyone else thinks about the Europa League, Jonjo loves it.

What we've seen so far this season is not only a growth in confidence of all those players just coming through at the club but a real vindication of it in the first place.  In the twenty odd minutes that followed between Shelvey's goal and the half time whistle, it really was an exhibition in possession football and a pure joy to watch.  No sooner had the goal been scored than there was a real zip about our passing.  Shelvey in particular is riding high at the moment and laid a beautiful ball through to Glen Johnson that they were unable to cut out, it was a shame we were unable to make more of the move given the sheer amount of space involved.

Football is such a deceptively simple game and this was it being executed at as high a level as I've seen for some time.  The midfield trio were sumptuous in their fluidity and in being on the front foot at all times, constantly demanding the ball and trying to get us going again.  Another player who appeared to have grown by about ten feet was Stewart Downing.  He was starting to get involved on a regular basis at both ends of the pitch.  A lot has been made - rather negatively - about the way in which Downing needs to get going and whether or not he can be accommodated but this was becoming a very good performance.  What would have to happen in order for him to play in the first team regularly I think would be an added goal threat.  This has to be the beginning for Stewart, not the bottom line.

Playing the ball first time is one of those things that coaches drill into their players at the highest level so often and hard that it's easy to forget just how effective it is.  In order to do so, there has to be an overall level of technical ability as well as vision.  There's no point in trying to thread a pointless ball through five players with  a back flick that's unlikely to come off but instead laying it across the middle, out wide and then back again works very well to long as there's that intent there.  As it was, the game seemed to be completely focused on the right hand side with Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing getting involved as often as possible.  On the other side there was a lot of good play from Assaidi and real intent as he always looked to try and create something but he was defended a lot better than he had been in previous games and as such found very little joy.

All over the pitch, it was a Liverpool player who was getting to the ball first.  For the most part, the passing and movement was so easy that it never looked in doubt but even on those occasions where Udinese might have got a toe to the ball it was still the Reds who'd come away with it.  Di Natale was now incredibly isolated and whereas he and Borini were making very similar movements it was only the Liverpool forward who was able to receive the ball and lay it off.  When a team is playing like we were, it was only an inevitability that chances would come and even the half chances had so many people involved in their creation.  Downing, Shelvey and Borini played it between them before laying it off to Johnson close to the touchline.  Henderson wasn't able to do much with the cross but it was a sign of the dominance and understanding between all those involved that we were able to get so many of our players into the game in attacking areas of the pitch.

Another tick in the box for the ability of our players was that when Udinese's midfield did try to close us down, the range of passing we had in our locker was such that still the spare man could be found.  There were long periods of play in which the Italian side just couldn't get anywhere near the ball and it was a wonder that Brkić didn't have more to contend with as the half drew to a close.  They did actually manage one chance just before the break in forcing a corner that probably shouldn't have been given, with Carragher fouled close to the half way line before being pressured into conceding it.  The set piece passed without note however and the referee drew to a close another exhilarating performance capped by another goal for Jonjo Shelvey.  Both the manager and all those watching will have been hoping for something similar in the second. Nobody could quite have predicted or known quite what they would be in for.

An initial change in personnel suggested that Francesco Guidolin was far from happy with the way things had gone and had given his players severe talking to at half time.  Whatever was said had an immediate effect as one missed interception by Glen Johnson allowed Udinese the chance to break into the space behind him.  The ball was played back over to Di Natale and he wasted no time in levelling up the game with barely a minute of the second half having been played.  The confidence given to them by the goal added to whatever motivation they'd come out with and as such we were under severe pressure when it came to trying to recover and settle down once more.  Passes were misplaced, there was suddenly a lot of tension around the ground where not so long ago we had been very comfortable.  Goals change games.

Responding to the goal and trying to getting back into the game was then made much harder by the fact that they had changed shape at the interval and closed off the gap in midfield.  Shelvey found someone watching him all the way and as such wasn't able to come into space as easy as he did in the first half and that forced us to play about twenty yards back.  On the break Udinese weren't shy of getting players forward either so that meant that Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing were continually in a battle with their counterparts as both were desperate to be involved as high up the pitch as possible but had to be weary of leaving space.  The one area we did remain composed in was at centre half and in particular Sebastian Coates, who even after the goal still exuded a solidity that confounded the tension running rife throughout the rest of the squad.  With our opponents firmly on the front foot, it was clear he would still have a lot of work to do.

Borini did his best to work hard and put their defenders under some kind of pressure but in terms of having anything to play off, he'd barely had a kick.  It was pleasantly surprising - emphasis firmly on the surprising - to see Downing once again look to be the one who would try and pick the lock.  So many times I've seen decent performances from the winger in one half of football disappear but this one he looked as bright as ever once more, weaving into the box and trying to get a shot away.  It was a combination of how well they'd played down the right hand side and how off colour Assaidi was but all our play seemed to come through either Johnson or Downing, with a half chance for Henderson coming at the end of one such move.

Rodgers had seen enough and with twenty five to go, brought on a couple of aces he had in his sleeve.  Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez replaced Henderson and Assaidi at a time where the game could go either way.  What happened next was a succession of set pieces that ultimately decided the game.  Udinese sat off ever so slightly, weary of the threat of the players we'd brought on and as such we were able to get men closer to the box.  Suarez was clumsily fouled first of all before the resulting free kick - which could have led to a penalty for holding on Coates - led to a break for Udinese.  Having seen off the danger Downing broke again down their right flank and was quite literally wrestled to the floor by Pinzi.  It was a horrible challenge which again led to a chance for Suarez, this time cleared off the line by Shelvey of all people.  If that one hurt, the next would would be even worse.

Another break forced Robinson into a challenge on the left hand side of our penalty area.  The game now becoming very stretched and the room for error minimal.  What Lazzari delivered into the box was a standard cross, Sebastian Coates got his head to it but not a decisive enough one and the ball sailed agonisingly into the net for an own goal and gave Udinese the lead.  It was a complete 180 in terms of how the game had turned around from the first half and the goals kept on coming.  Once again this season it came from a seemingly innocuous piece of play in which we had the ball and nothing appeared on.

When Gerrard lost it twice in the space of a couple of instances, it wasn't great but there was only Di Natale in behind.  This is what a good player can do.  To be fair, the ball was played in behind Jamie Carragher to perfection and  once he'd gotten control of it the Udinese front man there was no taking it off him.  Coates and Carra had the situation in hand, with Johnson watching the spare man.  What everyone hadn't seen until it was too late was Pasquale bombing on and when the ball was laid off to him everyone in the ground knew where it was going.  It was probably the first time in the match that Downing hadn't tracked his man and even then it could have been very easy for Johnson to give Coates a shout and then go and shut off the outlet.  Either way, it was a great finish to a splendid counter attacking move and having been in total control at half time, we suddenly found ourselves two goals down.  Not for long though.

There was maybe a little more space in midfield to play the ball.  Even then I'm probably being picky, for any side that has just turned things around in the manner that Udinese had would drop off a little even if it were only subconsciously.  Borini was taken down on the edge of the box and with the time that remained, there was a sense that even though it would take something special if there was to be any comeback it would have to happen soon.  Luis Suarez deals in the magnificent however and for the second time this season hit a free kick right out of the top draw, curling it superbly around the wall and in beyond the diving Udinese goalkeeper.  Suddenly all the momentum was once again with those in red.  Football is a strange old game sometimes.

With fifteen minutes to find the equalizer, the ground became awash with anticipation.  Suarez had another golden chance moments later, with Downing's superb cross finding him all alone but his header was straight at Brkić and he was unable to profit from the rebound.  There was an urgency  now rampant through the players and in going for the jugular, Raheem Sterling was summoned to come on for Fabio Borini.  His impact was instant as he cut inside and created a chance for Steven Gerrard that they were able to scramble clear.  Udinese had the look of a side that was definitely starting to hang on a little but having said that they can be more than proud with the way they defended in the last few minutes, always managing to get something in the way.  The one time Suarez did manage to get through on goal, he smashed the ball at the near post when hitting it across goal would have been far more likely to result in a late leveller.  Still the pressure mounted.

The last five minutes were all about trying to make sure we didn't get sucker punched on the break while still trying to mount one last serious offensive.  Their midfield pressed the ball intensely and those behind them tried every trick in the book to try and run the clock down, when Raheem Sterling burst through - despite the defender pulling on his shirt a good three or four times - and fired agonisingly over, you got the sense that it wouldn't be our night.  There was one final chance for Stewart Downing, who maybe in a parallel dimension puts them into the top corner for fun.  Our number nineteen isn't that lucky however and the goalkeeper took it comfortably.  A disappointing result and one that ultimately could end up really biting us later on in the competition but for now there is still plenty of time to rectify what happened.  The most important thing now is that we can get back-to-back wins in the league for the first time in a very long time.  If only we were playing a side that didn't relish coming to Anfield and playing the role of spoiler.

(H) Udinese - Pre Match Thoughts

Europa League

Thursday 4th October 2012

Anfield

Liverpool VS Udinese

Whereas for some teams this competition may hold some feelings of trepidation or even apathy, there's a great deal of excitement surrounding any occasion where we'll have a chance to showcase the abundance of talent that there is right the way through the academy right now.  

As if there wasn't enough in the way of anticipation, tonight encounter will be against an Italian side with a lot to prove and a great deal of frustration that they need to get rid of.  Having been dumped out of the Champions League qualifying phases for the second year in a row, Udinese won't see this tournament as much of a consolation.  They do know however that on a stage like this at a venue like Anfield, they can show the world exactly what they're made out of.  

Having gone through a summer of renovation in which key players like Samir Handanovic, Mauricio Isla and Kwadwo Asamoah all moved on and those bought to replace them being unable as of yet to fill their roles, the season has not started well for the Bianconeri.  Like ourselves they have only managed one win so far in Serie A and sit fifteenth in the table.  Much like we were able to get back some kind of winning mentality with victories over Young Boys and West Brom, they will be looking to really kick-start their campaign with a morale boosting win here tonight.  On our part, we'll be well aware that a second three points will - even at this early stage of the group - make progression into the next phase that much simpler.

One of the things that makes the selection for tonight's team so interesting is that with so many players from this youth side that we've been fielding have come into the senior team and done well, a chance may now be given to even more brought in from the Academy.  Jon Flanagan, Ryan McLaughlin, Danny Wilson and even Michael Ngoo all have a shot at being a part of the squad if they aren't to make it directly into the starting eleven.  The anticipation who will be the next player to make the step up is all part of the fun.

With the quality of our opposition in both continental and domestic campaign reversed and Udinese being a far tougher challenge than Stoke on paper, there may be the temptation to bring some of our key players back into the squad.  Starting them may be a mistake but the likes of Joe Allen, Steven Gerrard or even Luis Suarez could easily find themselves on the bench tonight.  There are also those like Suso, Sterling and Wisdom, players that would in other circumstances be a shoe in to have a key role in this game but may now miss out for fear of burning them out.  Stewart Downing and Ousamma Assaidi will be looking to get a look in tonight as the first team is becoming rather settled and they will be looking for a performance good enough to force their way into the reckoning to start a Premier League game.  This may also be the perfect chance for Fabio Borini to get himself a bit more confidence.  I imagine if he plays at all he'll be leading the line and a couple of goals tonight would really do him good.

Two players will be available for selection tonight whose fortunes could not be any more diverse.  Jonjo Shelvey will come back into the team as he will sit out the last of his three game ban on Sunday and will be desperate to pick up from where he left off, having played so well against Young Boys and looking like the real deal.  Meanwhile Joe Cole has returned from obscurity once again with his injury having cleared up.  Whether he is fit enough to play or not I don't know but I do know for certain that he won't be risked against Stoke and so this represents his best chance of getting any kind of first team match practice and to integrate himself once more into the team.  It's been a rough time for Cole as of late but regardless of what anyone thinks about his ability these days, everything he's said and done - to the point of trying to play on at West Brom with a torn muscle - it's clear he wants to succeed at  Liverpool.  Here's hoping he has the chance.

Our Italian opponents tonight have in their weaponry one of the most prolific strikers of his nationality.  Antonio Di Natale is getting on a little at the age of thirty four but has still hit at least twenty league goals in each of his last three seasons, getting nearer to thirty on two occasions.  His predatory instincts are absolutely deadly and if he does play - I'm expecting something of a more shadow side from Udinese, Italian team rarely go all out with their line ups in this competition - then it will give the game an added dimension.  On top of all that, Di Natale is someone worth admiring for his off the field activities, having taken financial responsibility for the disabled sister of a team-mate that died earlier this year.  Genuinely heartfelt, I cannot respect this enough.

Any clash between two teams in one of Europe's big leagues is going to garner interest.  Regardless of what teams are actually put out and the level of superstars in them, this promises to be a fascinating encounter.  We've had a wild ride as of late with our youngsters and I've no doubt it's set to carry on in much the same way.  It's become less about the scoreline and more focused on the progression of their talent and cohesion between those in the team.  So long as we get that right then the results will come, as they have in recent weeks.  The feel good factor around Anfield is really high at the minute.  Long may it continue.

(A) Norwich - Pre Match Thoughts

                                           Premier League

                                      Saturday 29th September 2012
                                              Carrow Road

                                       Norwich VS Liverpool

Every season there are games of varying importance that mean more than just the three points.  Fixtures in which the ends will justify the means to an infinite degree.  Almost all of the time, they're encounters between ourselves and the top four.  Today marks that rare occasion when a game means so much more to us than it does to them.  Whatever happens today will not define Norwich City's season.  Failing to get the three points   would go a long way to putting a massive stain against ours.

Along with Brendan Rodgers at Swansea, Norwich and Paul Lambert last year breathed fresh air into the bottom half of the Premier League.  With the former Borissia Dormund man having moved on to Aston Villa, the Canaries are having to go through a season of consolidation and are struggling a little in their second season.  Having been turned over by QPR on the opening day of the season will have done a lot to damage the confidence new manager Chris Hughton was trying to implement and they have yet - along with ourselves - to register a victory.  For either side getting the victory today would mark a massive result.

Because of those that hurt and absent through suspension, as far as Brendan Rodgers' selection goes there aren't many choices he has to make.  It's pleasantly surprising to have potentially both Daniel Agger and Fabio Borini as options with their respective injuries not as bad as first feared but it's more than likely that they will be given the chance to fully recuperate.   Hopefully Sebastián Coates will start in place of Agger should the Dane not make it, with the only other defensive dilemma being whether to start Andre Wisdom on the right or Jack Robinson on the left.  All of that depends on whether Rodgers - being without the stability of Martin Kelly - will want to play Glen Johnson in his preferred position.  Johnson is one of our best avenues of opening a team up and we're going to need him a his very best today.

Offensively, there's been a lot of hype surrounding Ousamma Assaidi after his impressive performances against both Young Boys and West Brom, with the thought being that he could start alongside Suarez and Sterling.  Personally - and I think this may be the way Rodgers' goes with it - I'd much rather have him on the bench and start with Suso, given that we're very light on players that can change the game from the bench.  It sounds bizzare given the fact that Suso has come on twice and we've scored immediately but I think Assaidi would be better suited to the role of impact sub.  Also it's just reward for the eighteen year old Spaniard who  has done remarkably well since his step up into the first team.

Winning games makes everything better.  With progression in the League Cup sealed on Wednesday by a Nuri Sahin double, suddenly our midfield three looks rather formidable.  Both Sahin and Gerrard have stood out in recent games, along with Joe Allen who never seems to misplace a pass.  It's in this area of the pitch which we'll have to show our superiority and assert ourselves on the Norwich midfield.  They'll also have to do well in supporting our front three regardless of who plays because without a real form striker it's going to be vital that we get goals from midfield.  

Having been a tough start to the season for both teams, it could be a game that takes a long time in getting going.  Certainly Hughton will be weary of opening his team up too early as we're - in spite of our poor points return - capable of taking to a team that plays like that.  Encouragingly for Norwich, we seem incapable of keeping a clean sheet as of late and Grant Holt could quite easily have a similar impact on the game that Steven Fletcher had when we played Sunderland.  He's their main threat but they also have decent  support in the form of Surman, Pilkington and Hoolahan.  The difference in quality favours us immensely, even with those we won't be able to call upon but in football that doesn't count for much if we don't approach the game in a professional manner.  So many times this season we've played well and gotten nothing to show for it.  Today may be one of those occasions where we Brendan Rodgers will be happy for the reverse.

(A) West Brom - Post Match Thoughts

Final Score: West Brom 1-2 Liverpool
West Brom Goal: Gabriel Tamas (3)
Liverpool Goals: Nuri Şahin (17, 82)

Games in up competitions that will showcase and test the talents of our younger players already feel like they're going to be a lot of fun.  Young Boys last week was a case of absolute mayhem and once again there was a real sense prior to kick off that anything at all could happen.  The prevailing sense was that of trepidation, for West Brom were playing more or less their first team.  There was still hope however  that our young lads be able to step up to the plate and repeat their success of last week.

With our defence of the League cup officially under way, West Brom opted to test out our concentration levels by knocking it long early.  With Jamie Carragher up against a big strong Romelu Lukaku, it was going to be a long night for the stand in skipper.  It wouldn't take them long to find a breakthrough either.  Just three minutes had gone when Jordan Henderson's short pass off to Andre Wisdom forced the young defender into fouling Rosenborg.  The free kick was looped into the box and as Brad Jones came to claim it, an arm from Jonas Olsson landed in his face.  Unable to gather it cleanly, the ball fell to Tamas who had the easy task of poking it into an unguarded net.  Not the start Brendan Rodgers will have had in mind.

Early on it looked like this was going to get ugly, fast.  Lukaku was brushing off Jamie Carragher like he was one of those charity muggers that approach you in the street and with alarming regularity.  Carra managed to get a last ditch block in for his first attempt at goal but when the Belgian forward dragged him out wide, Jamie was left for dead before it came to Fortune who forced Jones into a save.  There had only been five minutes on the clock but we were a goal down and looked to be hanging on already.  Some possession of the ball was needed, badly.

Things weren't going well for us in the first ten minutes and the one time we did manage to get a hold of the ball it lead to a counter that Carragher was forced to snuff out.  It says a lot that of the two teams West Brom were playing the more fluid football but the fact of the matter was that we hadn't yet started the game, having been caught cold by that sucker punch (quite literally in Olsson's case) of a goal.  There were signs that we were starting to grow into it however.  Pretty much everything we did came down the left hand side with Robinson being a little sloppy but still trying to come to grips with the game and ahead of him Assaidi who again looked bright early on.  His trickery on the left hand side of the penalty area and subsequent ball into the box could have even brought about a sudden leveller as Samid Yesil nodded it just wide.  At the very least, the ball was as far away from our goal as possible.

The Baggies were full of confidence, especially in an attacking sense.  Whenever it was played up to Lukaku he would make sure it stuck and allowed other people to get involved around him.  In order to try and keep them at bay, those kind of balls would need to be cut out and it was impressive to see Nuri Sahin putting himself about a lot more than on previous occasions.  Henderson would have been the one in there as the more defensive type midfielder but Sahin was starting to get involved all across the middle.  Certainly a lot of our creative play revolved around the Turkish midfielder as everything seemed to go through him before it went anywhere else.  So it would come as no surprise that he was the source of our equaliser.

Ben Foster won't want to see it ever again, almost certainly.  For the first time really in the match, the ball was being channelled through the right hand side.  Downing went forward before playing it back to Wisdom and there was a real patience about our play as West Brom flooded the centre.  When it came back to Sahin  - some twenty five yards out - there were a lot of bodies behind the ball and these are the kind of situations in which as a defence you want the player to shoot aimlessly.  That his shot was on target was about as kind as you could get, but Foster wanted to reward him even further with the ball squirming underneath him at the near post as it looked for the whole world that he had it covered.  Both teams had scored and neither side will have been happy in the manner of which it came about.  Game on.

Just to compound matters for Steve Clarke and his team, no sooner had the goal gone in than Liam Ridgewell needing to have the physio on for treatment.  A combination of having gotten back into the game and West Brom being temporarily down to ten men, the high pressing that you would ordinarily see right from the off was now very clear and they were forced deep because of it.  Assaidi created a half chance for Dani Pacheo when his cross was headed out to the edge of the box.  The Moroccan winger looks like he could be a very exciting player indeed for us.  Without getting to carried away, his direct style and the ability he has to shift it onto either foot and go on the outside or inside will make it so that he's always going to be a threat to defenders.  Certainly has all the makings of a real impact player, and he was doing just that on this game.

With Ridgewell unable to continue, Craig Dawson came on to replace him and once again get West Brom back to a full compliment of players.  By now we had firmly grabbed the initiative and were seeing a lot more of the ball, Yesil and Pacheco doing their best to try and go past five players back was a measure of how the confidence was flowing.  Dani Pacheco has been one of those prospects for quite some time now and the feeling is that he's got to deliver sooner rather than later.  His trickery and technique are widely lauded but here it was his intelligence and industry that impressed.  Finding the space in between their midfield and defence, even dropping very deep to pick it up and get on with it as well as a lot of work tracking runners and putting his foot it.  All of it was very good to see from the Spaniard.

After such a joyous start, the home crowd was starting to get very frustrated.  We now had a real presence in an attacking sense, with Wisdom and Robinson forward it meant that there were always four or five Liverpool players in the final third of the pitch.  As such they had no time to think, let alone any room to manoeuvre.  Their midfield had been forced to come deep just as an option for those at the back to receive the ball so that when we did pinch it from them there were always a lot of West Brom shirts to get beyond.  Yesil was working very hard up front and looked like he had something about him in the way of persistence and close control.  At the other end Romelu Lukaku who had started the game off on fire had been starved of any service and with his supply line completely cut off we looked a lot more comfortable as a defensive unit.

Their frustration boiled over as we approached half time.  Youssouf Mulumbu recklessly diving in on Jordan Henderson, with his studs going into the Liverpool midfielder's shin.  It was an absolute shocker of a challenge that unbelievably went unpunished.  Play went on some time after the incident and by the time referee Michael Oliver got back to it, perhaps the delay worked in Mulumbu's favour.  Certainly it merited a yellow card at worst and could even have easily been a red.  Just to put this decision into context, Mulumbu did receive a yellow moments later for a challenge on Nuri Sahin that was barely even worthy of the name foul.  As far as some of the decision making we've seen with regard to fouls being punished recently, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Though our play on the whole was very balanced, certainly the fortunes of those we had on each wing could not have differed any more.  Assaidi looked like he could create something every time he got onto the ball and was a real thorn in the West Brom defence.  Stewart Downing on the other hand was practically invisible.  As far as I'm concerned with Downing this season, I have no problem whatsoever with him being used as an auxiliary left back in certain games and that will add a certain presence in the attacking part of the field.  Having him as one of the front three will only hinder our creativity up front however.

It was a half that had began badly and ended in frustration.  For the last five or so minutes there was something of a lull in our appetite and it's possible we were just trying to sit in and wait for the break but the Baggies wrestled some initiative from that and exerted a little pressure as the half came to a close.  There was one chance for us on the break with Samed Yesil, who was caught on the edge of the box but no free kick was given before they cleared it away.  It's wrong to criticise any player for being honest but it does seem counter productive that referees do not reward this kind of behaviour, instead ignoring it in favour of those who go down at the slightest touch.  Half time then and despite going a goal down early, Liverpool had come back strong with the game now level at one each.

As the game got going for the second period, it was clear that the West Brom players had the managers words ringing in their ears.  Right from kick off they were a lot sharper and pressed the ball as hard as they had done all night, but even then the first real chance incident was in their own penalty area.  Assaidi picked up from where he'd left off and left his defender trailing.  His cross was half cleared and the shot that came back in resulted in an appeal from the crowd for handball.  Directly from this Lukaku picked the ball up and had a run at goal himself as an indication of how much the tempo had already picked up.  This was all in the first minute.

One thing that is very clear is that these players despite some of them lacking real experience, there's a huge amount of confidence in the way we play the ball around.  For a good few minutes it was passed between defence and midfield with Robinson at the heart of the play, looking for an opening.  He was under pressure a lot of the time but kept playing balls into Sahin or Henderson then back to Carragher, all the while waiting for an opportunity to get forward.  In a flash we were at the other end of the pitch.  Robinson's pass to Assaidi was laid off perfectly allowing him to drive at the heart of their defence.  It was eventually half cleared to Yesil whose powerful effort forced a save from Ben Foster but yet again it was far from convincing.  Despite appearing to go straight at him  - much like Sahin's opener - the ball wriggled away for a corner.  Dani Pacheco had obviously been paying attention to this as when he received the ball on the edge of the area from the resulting corner, his first thought was to test the goalkeeper and his dipping effort just clipped the bar.  Wouldn't be a Liverpool game without hitting the woodwork.

At one point in the early stages of the second half, both teams were suffering from the same problem.  Romelu Lukaku who had earlier been pushed up right on Jamie Carragher and near ripped him to pieces earlier on in the game, was now coming deeper and drifting wide to try stop our midfield from cutting the ball out to him.  What this did is add another midfielder into the battle, which did help West Brom gain some more of a territorial advantage but in turn allowed either Robinson, Wisdom or one of the midfielders to double team him along with Carragher or Coates and as such made him less of a threat.  Likewise we had no real presence in the penalty area, although most of that is down to the inexperience of Yesil more than anything else.  It did become especially frustrating though as Assaidi continually had the beating of his defender only for no-one to be on the end of whatever he'd produce.

Between Lukaku and Assaidi, the game did become very stretched at times.  So much so that there were times in which we'd simply keep the ball in our half and ask them to come and chase us for a while, trying to tire them out and quieten down the tempo.  Conversely they were trying to force the pace on every occasion and this led to a lot of misplaced passes and an overall pattern of play that was very disjointed.  The few chances that we did create were now coming on the break.  It was clear by now that Assaidi had the beating of his man every single time and the game came to life whenever he was on the ball.  Dani Pacheco was also running himself into the ground whenever West Brom had the ball in their own defensive third and made sure they didn't have a moments peace.  He nearly scored after clearly having made his mind up about the night that Foster was having.  Once again it proved to be correct as the ball didn't go cleanly into the goalkeepers hands.  It was beginning to seem like a wonder he'd only conceded once.

In much the same way that some boxing matches tend to go through the motions a little in the middle rounds, so too was this game.  Both teams were content with throwing little jabs but there were being no real punches thrown.  Nuri Sahin was the one player in the middle of the park for either side who really stood out in terms of his ability to change the gear of a move, this both being a testament to his ability as well as him understanding his role in the team.  Their main threat was on the break and the occasional flurry of set pieces meanwhile.  Steve Clarke showed his hand a little by taking of Lukaku and bringing on Shane Long.  As understandable as it was to rest the big Belgian for the weekend, they could easily have left him on and gone for a riskier change in shape in the hope of overpowering us at the back.  They weren't about to go all out in search of a winner however, making the question of our ability to cut through them all the more important.

Time was running out in terms of finding a winning goal in the allotted ninety minutes and though West Brom were getting the ball in good areas it would fall down completely as they tried to play the killer pass.  Certainly pretty much every cross played into the box in the second half was like catching practice for Brad Jones.  A lot of the way in which they went about finding a winning goal was tired, uncreative and incredibly ambitious.  Most of the time instead of attempting to play it down either channel, or even drive into the penalty area it would be a ball fizzed in to the forward in an attempt to try and split the defence from about thirty yards.  On the few occasions it wasn't cut out, they rolled harmlessly back to Jones in goal.

One of the things having watched the game now and really paid attention that mystifies me completely is the balance of the team in spite of the fact that we only ever used one side of it.  At no point was the shape lop sided or were we caught out on either flank, but the ball simply didn't go near Downing for long periods of the game.  You'd be forgiven for thinking we were a man light again.  It was painfully illustrated in a five minute stretch in which Dani Pacheco injures himself clearly and then goes on to do much more positive work for the team before he comes off than Downing could manage in the entire game.  This isn't to say he had a bad performance.  There were only about three or four bad touches from Downing the entire ninety minutes.  My problem is that those were the only times I saw him touch the ball.

Into the last ten minutes and with extra time looming, changes were afoot.  Pacheco and Yesil came off for Suso and sixteen year old Jerome Sinclair.  I've said all my life that I'll know when I start to get old when the players I'm cheering for are significantly younger than me.  Sinclair is - only just - sixteen, born a whole ten years after I was, making me feel like an absolute dinosaur and in the process breaking Jack Robinson's record of being the youngest ever Liverpool player.

Whether it's coincidence or not, this marked the second time in four days that following Suso's arrival onto the pitch we score.  Both instances were actually set in motion by the Spaniard himself.  This time he had a more direct part to play, picking the ball up and running toward goal with it.  With everyone expecting a shot on the edge of the area, his shift over to Assaidi on the left hand side caught out their back line and the subsequent ball across was as good a ball as he'd played all game.  This left Nuri Sahin with the simplest of tasks to slot the ball home for his - and Liverpool's - second of the game.

Time was now against the home side.  Almost immediately Fortune hit the post after he brilliantly volleyed Jonas Olsson's deep cross.  Their frustration was now being sounded out amongst the crowd, but wasn't loud enough to drown out the sounds of the Liverpool fans behind the goal.  There was a whole lot of bluster in the remaining minutes but no real chances of note that in any way worried Brad Jones or the defence.  Carragher in particular seems to thrive in these passages of play where a side is running out of ideas and all he has to do is get something in the way.

We were a little too deep at the end as the fourth official indicated the three minutes of stoppage time.  It got very scrappy in the end with Jerome Sinclair way up the field doing his very best to make an impression but being closed of by the West Brom defenders.  An eventful game came to an end and progression to the next round was sealed.  Our defence of the League Cup continues where we have been drawn at home - finally - against Brendan Rodgers' former employers; Swansea.  Another performance from the youngsters at Liverpool to savour, it's becoming a joy to watch some of these kids blossom right in front of our eyes and really makes me hopeful for the future of the club.  A future that needs to include three points against Norwich.