CHELSEA SECRET PLAN REVEALED

1) Sack Mourinho and get an unqualified coach to take over his place.
2) Keep Mourinho on the payroll and devise tactics in the background for the Chelsea team
3) Spread rumors on Liverpool (Tiger and Wolf tactics)
4) Rafa sacked
5) Get Mourinho to offer himself for the job for 50 pence per week.
6) Chelsea gets past Liverpool for the CL semi finals at last.

Back

Back from a rest.
Not that it matters much.

Behaviour of the England Captain

Shame on you John Terry

Look mum! No toes!

Gerrard playing for England carrying a toe injury

Gerrard has gotten too little criticism over this matter.
Fact: He is injured.

Hero, some say. Lack of professionalism, that's my take.
Whether or not his toe 'belong to Liverpool' like Jamo suggested the great Shankly would say, one thing for sure is that his toe belong to himself. For sure he is free to do what he choose to. But then every player is free to dose themselves in alcohol, party or have -beep- with prostitutes. It is not stated in their contract they can't. It's always a matter of whether he should. That's where self discipline comes along.

Even at a junior level during soccer training, my soccer coach told us if we don't take care of our bodies, we will never be able to enjoy the game properly in future - even at social level. How very true, I found out.

Gerrard is captain of Liverpool and vice captain of England. However, heroism is a thing for another day. At least with ten toes functioning correctly without drugs. In the army, the commander of his troops must always keep himself alive, to prevent the scenario which his soldiers are lost in the event of his death. Thus keeping himself fit to lead is what he should do, which he chose not to.

Gerrard the hero is a hero indeed. But sadly, a hero is not a leader. For a leader must be disciplined and responsible, not only for himself but for his men. I have to admit I do not give a hoot what happens to England. Although I am writing this in a very bias pro-Liverpool angle, it isn't really the point. If Gerrard is fit, I will applaud him for giving his best to England the same way he did for Liverpool. But now Gerrard is going to miss the game against Portsmouth, thats for sure.

Will anyone call Sissoko a hero if he chose to play in the Africa Nations Cup carrying an injury? I can hear a pin drop. Will Mascherano be skewered if he chose to play for his country and misses a Champions League tie for Liverpool? Should Gerrard be exempted from criticism just because he is captain?

Rafa is also at fault for not stamping his authority over this matter. Much as I hate to mention, Alex Ferguson would have showed his middle finger at M.Claren and withdraw his injured player (sometimes even w/o injury, notoriously known) w/o hesitation to protect his player. These uncompromising acts had played a big part in winning them the titles. So much for being Mr Nice Guy.

Gerrard IS injured. It is not a doubtful injury or a pulled muscle. I'm disappointed at Rafa for not doing the necessary this time.

But the willful captain should have known better. Exposed his lack of maturity yet again. Maybe the fitting captain in our team might really be some bottler really..

Changing of the tide ?

When Chelsea robbed a point at Anfield earlier this season, the Chelsea players were all smiles after the game.

Would they have reacted the same way 2 years ago? Maybe not. Anything less than 3 points were probably not good enough for them back then. This season, they know. Deep down they knew we can mount a (really) serious challenge to Man United this season.

And they'll just be some corroding flashy accessories.

Babel the Barnes?

Following Ryan Babel's super composed goal, there have been a lot of comparison between Babel and John Barnes, our legend.

Babel is 20 and Barnes was 24 when he joined Liverpool. If this article is to be believed, Babel is destinated for great things. Babel has not shown any dribbling skills like Barnes so far. Besides the goal, he has not shown the same composure consistently. Maybe it will come with maturity?

Well at least he seems to be quite comfortable dealing with the physical demands on the English League. We'll just wait and see if Ryan can be anything as good as this:

More than 25 points....

from the first 10 games, then we'll talk about the REAL possibility of winning the title.

We are doing the correct things at the moment. The title isn't won in September, but it certainly can be lost by September.

At least this season, unlike previous, we are giving ourselves a chance. A chance to be part of the race. By the 10th game, the 1/4 mark to the finishing line, we'll see a better definition of how the season will end. Should we lead by a good margin, we have a real chance to bring no.19 home. If we are on par with other contenders, we might outlast them through winter and make a surge towards the end with our much improved depth this season. And if we trail by a heartbreaking margin again, we'll know we have much to do.

This is the first time we lead the table since 2002. Signs are encouraging but it's still early days. We're all waiting for the first milestone, the 10th league game. Should we have more than 25 points, it will certainly make me sit up and start feeling all excited.

Nevertheless this is the summary after 5 games

-We are top of the pack with the best goal difference.
-Arsenal is on level but they have yet to win an away game, but we bagged 2.
-Everton played a game more
-Chelsea played a game more, owe us 2 points and deserve 2 less.
-We have yet concede a goal from open play.
-Man Unit is shit

Villa sinks Chelsea

Villa 2 - 0 Chelsea.
Well done Villa. Chelsea stinks and you did the world good by flushing them to where they belong - the sewers. With that you deserve the Badge of Merit from me.

Don't expect any favours at Anfield later in the season though, and surrender your points then!

Collect more Badge of Merits and stay cool!

Speechless

That's the word as I watched this video clip mouth-opened.



The link to the pic is here: Full credits to macphisto80, the painter.
(and Roadrunner for sharing me)

Elements in a Champion

I can see some of us seem really stressed up and it's obvious we are very eager to see Liverpool winning the EPL title. I am not an exception. Some say Champions must play attacking soccer like Man United, but we see Chelsea winning 2 titles with negative (ugly at times) soccer. While it is natural use last season's Champs as a milestone, we need not do that.

I noticed Liverpool fans have a habit of appointing a scapegoat each season for our mis-performance. This year it looks like it's going to be Kuyt or Sissoko or even Alonso. But its hearterning to see the a better player as a scapegoat year on year. We're improving I guess.

In actual fact, a Champion does not need a scapegoat. This is not to be mistaken with the myth of every player performing excellently in a Championship winning team. In fact, in every Champion, there are players who sucked that season.

Thus, it is no point blasting our players game after game. It could only affect our fanbase morale and make supporting the club less fun. I mean, it's good to criticise but it kinda gets boring if we hear the same music every day, no?

Every EPL winner over the years had 1-2 outstanding players that season. These players would be on everyone's lips throughout the season. C.Ronaldo for Man U last season, John Terry and Cech for Chelsea previous, Henry for Arsenal the previous before and probably Garcia for Liverpool during our great CL win. Debatable yes, but face it, he made the difference.

That's the key. Players making a difference and that's what we need. It has to be the secret behind any Champion. Every team has their duh players, why do we expect any difference? But we do not have enough key players making the difference, the shining beacon. I do not know what constitute such a player. Talent? Heart? Influence? Skills? It really baffles me. In my opinion, as long as we do not have some players of this nature, the title is out of reach. Gerrard definitely has the footballing capabilities to be our player, but he fades off too regularly in a season. To put it simply, we are still a (but a much stronger) one-man team as in GH's era.

Second factor I feel is luck. Every Champion needs lotsa luck throughout the season. Incredible luck. Luck which makes the rest of the league howl in frustration at our fortunes and green with envy. Luck gives us deflected goals, goals from every seemingly harmless shots from average strikers. Luck gives us penalties we do not deserve. Luck gives us room for impossible goals from every angle. Luck bail us out with keepers scooping back disallowed conceded goals that crossed the lines. Luck gives us unbelievable last seconds injury time winners. Luck baffles everyone but face it, every Champion had a LadyLuck on their backs. Luck truely makes a difference in seperating strong title-chasers.

We have definitely assembled a squad which is capable of winning the title by a manager with abilities to bring us there. But we need something special. Luck, like any form of opportunities, can only happen if the players and manager are well-prepared to receive it. Players have to believe, and prepared to work very very hard to receive the blessing. At this early stage, I can only pray to see these 2 crucial elements shining in present for us throughout this season. If it happens, there'll be a new Champion this season.

Nice things happened while I was away...

:D *lol*
I hope it stays this way. No. I hope it gets much worse than this. Muahahahaha!

Almost at Anfield...

Sorry that I did not update the blog for a few days. I am still away at Perth until 23rd August. Will not have internet access most of the time.

Perth is a beautiful place and the beaches are just fantastic. Today I passed by a place call Enfield. Heh, wished I was at Anfield instead but that'll be in the future I guess.

Controversial qualifier

Read how Toulouse grabbed a mathematically impossible CL qualifier spot after it catapults from 7th to 3rd through a controversial game as well as a last day drama.

Article here

Nix's comments: Remember the stories about Denmark and Greece? We have to be careful against these opponents

The man who stopped a Civil War

A single soccer match achieves what five years of combat and negotiations could not: an apparent end to Ivory Coast's civil war. The man who brought the warring sides together was not a politician or a gun-toting strongman, but Didier Drogba, the star striker for Ivory Coast.

Full Story

Nix's comments: One of my friends read this article and commented that she realised there is always good in a person no matter how bad, and that she is sorry about her bad comments towards Drogba previously.

I have to admit I agree and that I changed my mind towards Drogba after reading the article too. It's dramatic, yet touching and I'm happy to read positive effect soccer did for a society. It has been rare recently.

On the field, though :

"You're a cheating bastard Drogba!"

Liverpool's Premier League 1k

	Liverpool could earn their 1,000th Premier League point when the season gets underway at Villa Park on Saturday.

The Reds have accumulated 999 points since the Premier League was established in August 1992.

Just three teams have reached the milestone already: Manchester United (1,232), Arsenal (1,081) and Chelsea (1,013).


Nix's comments: There wouldn't be 1000 points. Liverpool will end the day with

1002 fucking points =)

A team of Captains

Captains are supposed to be never-say-die, influential individuals with strong mantle and has the ability to forge a team together. For the record we have more than 1 captain in the squad right now,

Gerrard - the official one
Carra - long regarded as the unofficial one
Torres - captain for A.Madrid
Leiva - Brazil U-21 captain
Hyypia - ex captain
Kuyt - Feyenoord captain

A fellow Red says, "Captain doesn't win titles."

Well he is right. Winning delivers the title, not captains. Having 50% of the team as captains does not guarantee the title, but hopefully they can push the young team forward to deliver the wins, and hopefully, the coveted EPL title.

Two players in each position

We have come a long way since we played 4 DMs across the midfield. Rafa Benitez has assembled a team with almost 2 established players in each positions and that's heartening to see.

---------------------------------------Reina/Carson

Finnan/Arbeloa--------Carra(Paletta?)--------Agger/Hyypia-----------Riise/Aurelio


Pennant/Benayoun----Gerrard/Sissoko----Alonso/Mascherano-----Kewell/Babel


----------------------------Torres/Voronin---Kuyt/Crouch

It has been a long long time since we have good depth. In fact, this is definitely the most balanced, if not strongest, Liverpool team in a decade. Many players have the abilities to play in different roles thus able to give the team different shapes to give us the advantage of unpredictability.

I hope that this wouldn't confuse our own players before we confuse the opponents :)

Good days ahead