Results tagged “benitez” from Liverpool Echo - Another Red Letter Day
LAST night, Liverpool FC surrendered limply to a side struggling at the wrong end of the Championship.
Not only we beaten, at supposed fortress Anfield, but we were outplayed.
The Reds were palpably second best in terms of fight, commitment, ideas, creativity and skill.
Now is not the time for delusional hopes, skewed statements of how we just need our luck to change, but for cold, hard, plain facts.
It's only facing up to the reality that will possibly drag us out of this sorry, sorry mess.
YOU don't win anything with poor players.
It's as simple as that.
OK, so we should add the name of Steven Gerrard into that mix, but we've naturally come to expect excellence from our skipper.
But there was some stand-out performances from supporting cast players on Wednesday night that has helped dispel some of the glooom surrounding our defeat to Spurs on the opening day.
IN A BIZARRE kind of way, Liverpool losing their player of the year might easily end up benefiting the Reds in the long run.
All kinds of flaky rumours sprouting up today about Frenchman Frank Ribery possibly moving to Anfield.
Does, an article posted by www.goal.com add weight to a speculative story? It seems to have been generated by a welter of people lumping a tenner on the winger joining Liverpool, prompting Skybet to slash the odds on Frank playing in front of the Kop.
ALL IN ALL, it was a hugely productive season for Liverpool, but one which ultimately ended in frustration.
So near yet so far to that first title in 19 years.
Still, there are many reasons for optimism that will mean we march into the next campaign with hope in our hearts.
Here, Another Red Letter Day presents its End of Season awards.
IF EVER there was a recipe for a dire night in Europe, tonight was it.
Struggling to keep in touch with Man Utd in the Premiership, rumours about Rafa's job sweeping the city.
But then this is Liverpool. And a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu cauldron against a bang in form Real Madrid side, when the rest of the world is sniping, is pretty much par for the course for us.
THERE were two emotions uppermost in my mind moments after having watched Liverpool snatch an improbable victory from the jaws of defeat at Portsmouth.
Elation that we had managed to secure three crucial points in such dramatic, kamikaze circumstances.
But frustration and anger that loyal fans were being forced to try and understand the inexplicability of one of the most baffling Liverpool starting elevens, and its resulting formation, in years.
And so Robbie Keane moves back to Spurs to complete one of the most bizarre, frustrating and downright puzzling Anfield transfer sagas in a long time.
But has Benitez got this one right?
AS the clock ticked down towards 90 minutes on early Sunday evening, the knives were being sharpened to further puncture Liverpool's faltering title challenge.
But three mad-cap minutes changed all of that and breathed vital new life into the pursuit of Man Utd's at the top of the table.
Newcastle must be sick of the sight of us.
Come rain or shine, good or indifferent form, Anfield or St James Park, we always give the Toon boys a good whipping.
And with Chelsea being pegged back by Fulham, it's fantastic going into the New Year with a three point lead at the top of the Premiership.
DROPPING two points at home to Stoke could be considered unfortunate.
Repeating the feat at home to Fulham would be viewed as worrying. Doing the same against West Ham, and failing to score again into the bargain, is tantamount to a criminal offence.
If we fail to notch up number 19 this season, it's these matches that'll show us where we let it wastefully slip away.
THEY always said Houllier had a stubborn struck in him.
As 90 minutes frustrating slipped by on Saturday, it was hard not to conclude that Benitez was displaying a similar trait.
AFTER last season's catastrophic start to our Champions League campaign, which left us playing desperate catch-up football for the last three matches, an early three points was the most crucial requirement form last night's visit to Marseille.
It was an interesting evening in many ways, and we were a touch fortunate to walk away with all the spoils after a semi-onslaught from the impressive Frenchmen.
IT'S always an entertaining madcap ride counting down the last few hours to transfer deadline.
Tracking the live text on the BBC website from 9pm to midnight has become a 'must-do' activity as the rumours get sillier and the cash gets brasher.
For our part, there was some frenzied activity at Anfield even if it wasn't quite on the Robinho/Berbatov £30m scale.
And it signalled the end of an Anfield career for one of the most genuine, hard-working and honest Reds players over the last five years.
AS time rumbles on until the day of reckoning, Rafa has a few selection headaches on his hands.
That last minute blunder at Anfield suddenly changed the Spaniard's thinking for the second leg, and ultimately, how the Reds might now line up.
