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The MyRAWK Team.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
MyRAWK Special Event - Liverpool vs Man Utd Showdown @ Breakers This Saturday - Sept 13th!
MyRAWK Special Event: Liverpool vs Man Utd, Saturday - Sept 13th @ Breakers, Desa Sri Hartamas, starting at 6:30 pm!
There will be a MyRAWK special event and big gathering for this Saturday's early kickoff showdown with Man Utd. The event starts at 6:30pm and 40 early birds wearing LFC kits / attires will be entitled to free food. There will also be freebies - prizes, merchandises and door gifts, for everyone. Test your knowledge on LFC and win yourselves a prize as we will have quizzes and Q&A sessions. Guess the correct final scoreline and one of you will win a grand prize.
More Details:
Seating: Free
Drinks charge: Happy HOURS till 9pm
Beer Jug: RM34.00
Beer Tower: RM 70.00
Beer Bucket (tuborg X 4 bottles): RM60.00
Premium Liquor brands 20%
So what ya waiting for? Be there or be square! Are YOU Red Enough?
MyRAWK
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Welcome To Anfield: Albert Riera
Finally, a left winger is signed to offer us more "possibilities" down the left flank. Checkout his press conference video and a compilation showing his skills while at Espanyol.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
EPL: Aston Villa 0 vs 0 Liverpool, By Jon Wong
Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool – Still Unbeaten, no?
This match pretty much gained top billings over the weekend with the wanted-away Gareth Barry (but never submitted his transfer request, duh!) playing against the team of the man who spent the whole summer chasing after his signature, our Rafa the Gaffa.
Those expecting fireworks would have been sorely disappointed as both teams lined-up to stifle each other. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t really complain too much if we played a little more defensively away from Anfield but this time, Rafa’s lost it. He had 2 strikers in the starting line-up i.e. El Keano but stuck Keano to the left and Torres was upfront by himself. Now, how does that exactly work? Worse still was when Torres tore his hamstring after a quarter of an hour.
O’ Neill was also guilty of defensive tactics even though they had home advantage. They never looked like they set up to win the game. And boy, am I glad we didn’t manage to buy Barry. He was pretty crappy to say the least. Nothing that Xabi or Yossi couldn’t do.
For me, the positive to bring out of this match is Carra and Skrtel are rocks and did not concede, Ngog seems like a gem and we came away unscathed. Nevertheless, it is 2 points dropped. I cannot help but feel yet again we cannot take advantage of other team’s slip-ups. By this I mean Chelsea. We could have been top of the table for 2 weeks but for Rafa’s defensive tactics and putting a table where the lamp* should be.
Are we looking at degenerating into a Houllier-esque meltdown? Honestly, I don’t know but let’s hope we dig ourselves out of this run of unconvincing performances soon. For once, I am glad that the league is on International break. We are still unbeaten, no? Yes we are but for how long?
*In reference to Rafa’s famous ‘table and lamp’ dig at the Valencia board during his last days at the club.
This match pretty much gained top billings over the weekend with the wanted-away Gareth Barry (but never submitted his transfer request, duh!) playing against the team of the man who spent the whole summer chasing after his signature, our Rafa the Gaffa.
Those expecting fireworks would have been sorely disappointed as both teams lined-up to stifle each other. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t really complain too much if we played a little more defensively away from Anfield but this time, Rafa’s lost it. He had 2 strikers in the starting line-up i.e. El Keano but stuck Keano to the left and Torres was upfront by himself. Now, how does that exactly work? Worse still was when Torres tore his hamstring after a quarter of an hour.
O’ Neill was also guilty of defensive tactics even though they had home advantage. They never looked like they set up to win the game. And boy, am I glad we didn’t manage to buy Barry. He was pretty crappy to say the least. Nothing that Xabi or Yossi couldn’t do.
For me, the positive to bring out of this match is Carra and Skrtel are rocks and did not concede, Ngog seems like a gem and we came away unscathed. Nevertheless, it is 2 points dropped. I cannot help but feel yet again we cannot take advantage of other team’s slip-ups. By this I mean Chelsea. We could have been top of the table for 2 weeks but for Rafa’s defensive tactics and putting a table where the lamp* should be.
Are we looking at degenerating into a Houllier-esque meltdown? Honestly, I don’t know but let’s hope we dig ourselves out of this run of unconvincing performances soon. For once, I am glad that the league is on International break. We are still unbeaten, no? Yes we are but for how long?
*In reference to Rafa’s famous ‘table and lamp’ dig at the Valencia board during his last days at the club.
Friday, August 29, 2008
UCL: Liverpool 1 vs 0 Standard Liege, Match Report By Jon Cheah
UCL: Liverpool 1 vs 0 Standard Liege – The Great European Escape Pt II, By Jon Cheah
Having barely scraped through the 2 wins in the EPL and the 1st leg draw in Liege, most will be wondering how long more can our lucky streak continue. The previous lackluster performances have got most Reds jumpy and on the edge of their seats. However, most will be sure that a typical European night will bring the best out of the team and the vocal home support will roar them on.
Unfortunately what conspired on Wednesday night didn’t follow the usual Anfield European tie script. In a somewhat more polished outing compared to the shambles that happened in Liege, we still couldn’t contain the youthful and energetic Standard team. Their quick counter attacking play kept our defenders and Pepe on their toes throughout the entire match.
We showed glimpses of good buildup play early in the 1st half with great interlinking play around Standard’s penalty box at the Kop end. But our final balls, touches and shooting were still pretty poor. On the other end, our defense was barely able to contain their fast counter attacking through Mbokani and Fellaini. Pepe was called into action twice to palm away two very good efforts from them. Skrtel, who was paired with Carra, was a lot more comfortable compared to Agger in the first leg.
Keane and Torres were both struggling to find their foothold throughout the entire game and were not helped by limited service from the midfield. But when clear chances did come their way, their finishing was poor. El Niño was not his usual self and was clearly put off by the physical marking on him. Keane was running everywhere trying to link up the play to no avail. We ended up resorting to long range speculative shots from beyond the penalty box through Gerrard and Alonso when we could not break down the stubborn and resolute Standard defense.
Our severe lack of width was cruelly exposed time and again when we were crowded out in the midfield area and could not penetrate their flanks through Benayoun and Kuyt. The gaffer finally saw the need to solve the problem and brought in Babel to replace the Israeli international in the middle of the 2nd half. But the young Flying Dutchman was still not in his element after missing a chunk of preseason through injury and Olympics duty.
The turning tide came when El Zhar was brought in late in the second half to replace a Keane that is still trying to find his feet in the team. Kuyt was then moved next to Torres while El Zhar was given specific instructions to stay and hog on the right by-line. Our attacking play improved tremendously and we resumed more control over the remainder of the match. Arbeloa then came close to breaking the dreadlock right at the end of normal time with a ferocious drive that was palmed away by Arogon, the Standard keeper.
The same pattern of play continued as we pressed on for that elusive goal in extra time. Most would have been mentally prepared for the penalty lottery, but our Dutchmen conspired otherwise by working together to finally score THE goal. Babel did great work down the left and sent in a perfect cross for Kuyt to score with a tap in at the far corner. It was enough to send Anfield into a frenzy and £12million into the club’s coffers. That strike alone was enough to pay his entire transfer fee and then some from Feyenoord.
The indifferent start to the season has dumbfounded a lot of Reds even though some have argued that we are perennial slow starters. I personally disagree and believe that we cannot afford to repeat the slow starts anymore, especially when the standard among the teams in the EPL and UCL have been raised so dramatically. We risk being consigned to being “also rans” before we even hit the usual dramatic holiday period and knock-out stage.
Unfortunately what conspired on Wednesday night didn’t follow the usual Anfield European tie script. In a somewhat more polished outing compared to the shambles that happened in Liege, we still couldn’t contain the youthful and energetic Standard team. Their quick counter attacking play kept our defenders and Pepe on their toes throughout the entire match.
We showed glimpses of good buildup play early in the 1st half with great interlinking play around Standard’s penalty box at the Kop end. But our final balls, touches and shooting were still pretty poor. On the other end, our defense was barely able to contain their fast counter attacking through Mbokani and Fellaini. Pepe was called into action twice to palm away two very good efforts from them. Skrtel, who was paired with Carra, was a lot more comfortable compared to Agger in the first leg.
Keane and Torres were both struggling to find their foothold throughout the entire game and were not helped by limited service from the midfield. But when clear chances did come their way, their finishing was poor. El Niño was not his usual self and was clearly put off by the physical marking on him. Keane was running everywhere trying to link up the play to no avail. We ended up resorting to long range speculative shots from beyond the penalty box through Gerrard and Alonso when we could not break down the stubborn and resolute Standard defense.
Our severe lack of width was cruelly exposed time and again when we were crowded out in the midfield area and could not penetrate their flanks through Benayoun and Kuyt. The gaffer finally saw the need to solve the problem and brought in Babel to replace the Israeli international in the middle of the 2nd half. But the young Flying Dutchman was still not in his element after missing a chunk of preseason through injury and Olympics duty.
The turning tide came when El Zhar was brought in late in the second half to replace a Keane that is still trying to find his feet in the team. Kuyt was then moved next to Torres while El Zhar was given specific instructions to stay and hog on the right by-line. Our attacking play improved tremendously and we resumed more control over the remainder of the match. Arbeloa then came close to breaking the dreadlock right at the end of normal time with a ferocious drive that was palmed away by Arogon, the Standard keeper.
The same pattern of play continued as we pressed on for that elusive goal in extra time. Most would have been mentally prepared for the penalty lottery, but our Dutchmen conspired otherwise by working together to finally score THE goal. Babel did great work down the left and sent in a perfect cross for Kuyt to score with a tap in at the far corner. It was enough to send Anfield into a frenzy and £12million into the club’s coffers. That strike alone was enough to pay his entire transfer fee and then some from Feyenoord.
The indifferent start to the season has dumbfounded a lot of Reds even though some have argued that we are perennial slow starters. I personally disagree and believe that we cannot afford to repeat the slow starts anymore, especially when the standard among the teams in the EPL and UCL have been raised so dramatically. We risk being consigned to being “also rans” before we even hit the usual dramatic holiday period and knock-out stage.
The alarming and desperate need for outright wingers cannot be ignored and be emphasized enough. It is not some left footed utility player ala Barry that can play in 3 positions that we need. We must move quickly and sign Albert Riera or some other English winger that the gaffer is eyeing immediately as it will never be easy to fit into a new team once the season has already started. The new wide man will definately have a steep learning curve to adapt to the team. Till then, we better keep our fingers crossed and hope that the fickle minded lady luck stays with us for a little longer while we find our feet.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Benayoun (Babel 61), Keane (El Zhar 83), Torres (Plessis 120).Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Dossena, Agger, Spearing.
Goals: Kuyt 118.
Standard Liege: Aragon, Camozzato, Onyewu, Sarr, Dante, Dalmat (Jovanovic 86), Fellaini, Defour (Nicaise 118), Witsel, De Camargo (Toama 101), Mbokani.Subs Not Used: Devriendt, Goreux, Mikulic, Ingrao.
Booked: Sarr, De Camargo, Dante.
Att: 43,889
Ref: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Benayoun (Babel 61), Keane (El Zhar 83), Torres (Plessis 120).Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Dossena, Agger, Spearing.
Goals: Kuyt 118.
Standard Liege: Aragon, Camozzato, Onyewu, Sarr, Dante, Dalmat (Jovanovic 86), Fellaini, Defour (Nicaise 118), Witsel, De Camargo (Toama 101), Mbokani.Subs Not Used: Devriendt, Goreux, Mikulic, Ingrao.
Booked: Sarr, De Camargo, Dante.
Att: 43,889
Ref: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).
Monday, August 25, 2008
EPL: Liverpool 2 vs 1 Middlesborough, Match Report By Jon Wong
Liverpool 2-1 Middlesbrough: Hometown Heroes
There was a lot of excitement in anticipation of the first home match at Anfield in the Premier League. I had wanted to see our new number 7 notch a goal in front of the Kop and witness a potentially deadly partnership blossoming between El Nino and Keano; or as one of the lads would call it, El Keano.
The first 10-15 minutes of the match appeared bright for the Reds as we looked to be in control with some nice runs and Kuyt had a fierce 25-yard drive turned away by Boro keeper, Ross Turnbull who was standing in for Brad Jones who was injured during the warm-up.
However, Boro was not to be overawed and understandably so having beaten Spurs on the opening day of the season. Their confidence saw them keep their shape and game plan of putting men behind the ball and hitting the Reds on the counter. We did not help ourselves as our performance were still not up to mark but I think we did better than when we played Sunderland last week.
The Reds were having a tough time penetrating Boro and the referee, Mike Riley did not help matters as he never provided Torres and Keane any protection from the Boro players. Towards the close of the 1st half, signs of the El Keano partnership reared its head as Keane side footed the ball to put Torres thrugh only for Huth to block his shot.
The Kop was buzzing and hoped that the players would come out and knock Boro back but more of the same awful performances by the midfield were in store. At that time, Stevie G was almost invisible; Xabi and Yossi kept giving the ball away. Kuyt with his Eveready-bunny performance was not going to help our cause at that point.
The clock was running down and Southgate called on Mido to add some attacking bite into proceedings. Boro were rewarded with a wonderful 25-yard strike 20 minutes from time by the Egyptian who scored his 2nd goal of the season, after coming on for Boro as he did against Spurs last week. It was deserved for the visitors as they took the game to us right from the get go.
It looked like one of those games where the Reds were going to be locked out as the visitors began to see the real possibility of a first victory at Anfield in 23 years. And who could blame them. We were dishing out drivel and it was quite evident as Babel didn’t even get a touch on the ball until about 10 minutes after his introduction.
We did start to approach the game with a lot more urgency but by then, my head and my heart were both telling me ‘we suck’ and were going to lose this one. Best we could get is a draw.
The drawing goal did come 5 minutes from time but via a very unlikely source of none other than our Carra-diator. The scouser let fly from the edge of the box and his luck was taken off Pogatetz as the shot deflected it off the Boro captain and wrong-footed Turnbull who was diving to his right. The Kop exploded and then all the nail-biting started. Could we? Couldn’t we? 3 points. Is it possible?
The only thing Riley did all night was to put out 3 minutes of injury time and some more after injury to a Boro player. With time running out, the script was set for Captain Marvel himself to rescue the 2 points that looked destined to be lost. Xabi’s best pass of the night was to float the ball over the top and it broke for Stevie G to lash into the top corner for a hard- fought win.
This sort of play-like-crap-but-win-in-the-end performance were trademarks of championship winning sides like manscum and chelski. Hopefully, it’s our turn. Let’s not get carried away though because the performance in the last 3 games including the UCL qualifier against Liege will be punished eventually. Good wingers, anyone?
There was a lot of excitement in anticipation of the first home match at Anfield in the Premier League. I had wanted to see our new number 7 notch a goal in front of the Kop and witness a potentially deadly partnership blossoming between El Nino and Keano; or as one of the lads would call it, El Keano.
The first 10-15 minutes of the match appeared bright for the Reds as we looked to be in control with some nice runs and Kuyt had a fierce 25-yard drive turned away by Boro keeper, Ross Turnbull who was standing in for Brad Jones who was injured during the warm-up.
However, Boro was not to be overawed and understandably so having beaten Spurs on the opening day of the season. Their confidence saw them keep their shape and game plan of putting men behind the ball and hitting the Reds on the counter. We did not help ourselves as our performance were still not up to mark but I think we did better than when we played Sunderland last week.
The Reds were having a tough time penetrating Boro and the referee, Mike Riley did not help matters as he never provided Torres and Keane any protection from the Boro players. Towards the close of the 1st half, signs of the El Keano partnership reared its head as Keane side footed the ball to put Torres thrugh only for Huth to block his shot.
The Kop was buzzing and hoped that the players would come out and knock Boro back but more of the same awful performances by the midfield were in store. At that time, Stevie G was almost invisible; Xabi and Yossi kept giving the ball away. Kuyt with his Eveready-bunny performance was not going to help our cause at that point.
The clock was running down and Southgate called on Mido to add some attacking bite into proceedings. Boro were rewarded with a wonderful 25-yard strike 20 minutes from time by the Egyptian who scored his 2nd goal of the season, after coming on for Boro as he did against Spurs last week. It was deserved for the visitors as they took the game to us right from the get go.
It looked like one of those games where the Reds were going to be locked out as the visitors began to see the real possibility of a first victory at Anfield in 23 years. And who could blame them. We were dishing out drivel and it was quite evident as Babel didn’t even get a touch on the ball until about 10 minutes after his introduction.
We did start to approach the game with a lot more urgency but by then, my head and my heart were both telling me ‘we suck’ and were going to lose this one. Best we could get is a draw.
The drawing goal did come 5 minutes from time but via a very unlikely source of none other than our Carra-diator. The scouser let fly from the edge of the box and his luck was taken off Pogatetz as the shot deflected it off the Boro captain and wrong-footed Turnbull who was diving to his right. The Kop exploded and then all the nail-biting started. Could we? Couldn’t we? 3 points. Is it possible?
The only thing Riley did all night was to put out 3 minutes of injury time and some more after injury to a Boro player. With time running out, the script was set for Captain Marvel himself to rescue the 2 points that looked destined to be lost. Xabi’s best pass of the night was to float the ball over the top and it broke for Stevie G to lash into the top corner for a hard- fought win.
This sort of play-like-crap-but-win-in-the-end performance were trademarks of championship winning sides like manscum and chelski. Hopefully, it’s our turn. Let’s not get carried away though because the performance in the last 3 games including the UCL qualifier against Liege will be punished eventually. Good wingers, anyone?
Beijing 2008 OIympics: Mascherano's 2nd Gold!
Monster Masch Claims 2nd Olympic Football Gold
On August 23rd 2008, the Reds’ midfield monster, Javier Mascherano made history by becoming the first Argentinean to have won 2 Olympic football gold medals. His first gold medal was won in Athens four years ago when Argentina beat Paraguay 1-0.
Masch found his way to the gold medal when his team of Argentinean wizards hold out Nigeria for a 1-0 win in Beijing. The goal was courtesy of Angel Di Maria, scored in the 58th minute of regulation time.
Masch will join up with the Reds back at Merseyside together with Lucas who won the bronze medal after Brazil beat Belgium 3-0 in the bronze medal match.
Congratulations to both and may you help us to glory in claiming numbers 19 and 6 come May 2009
Thursday, August 21, 2008
International Friendlies – Reds in Action, By Jon Wong
International Friendlies – Reds in Action
As much as I hate the idea of international friendlies, they are very much a part of the football calendar. I just have no idea why UEFA and FIFA schedule them one match into England’s Premier League season. It’s just plain disruptive. I’ll leave that for another day.
Anyway, we had some Reds in action in midweek, representing their countries for badly scheduled friendlies. Reina, Alonso and Torres starred for Spain against Agger’s Denmark, Finnan made his international return with Keane for the Republic of Ireland, Gerrard played for England and Dossena earned his 2nd cap with Italy.
Alonso scored twice in Spain’s win against Denmark 3-0. Our new number 7 bagged his 34th international goal as the Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 with Norway. Both Gerrard and Dossena’s teams drew 2-2 with the Czech Republic and Austria respectively.
Fortunately, at time of writing, there’s no report of injuries to the Reds players, so here’s hoping we beat Boro this weekend with a fully fit team. Oh! And Babbel’s back from Beijing too.
As much as I hate the idea of international friendlies, they are very much a part of the football calendar. I just have no idea why UEFA and FIFA schedule them one match into England’s Premier League season. It’s just plain disruptive. I’ll leave that for another day.
Anyway, we had some Reds in action in midweek, representing their countries for badly scheduled friendlies. Reina, Alonso and Torres starred for Spain against Agger’s Denmark, Finnan made his international return with Keane for the Republic of Ireland, Gerrard played for England and Dossena earned his 2nd cap with Italy.
Alonso scored twice in Spain’s win against Denmark 3-0. Our new number 7 bagged his 34th international goal as the Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 with Norway. Both Gerrard and Dossena’s teams drew 2-2 with the Czech Republic and Austria respectively.
Fortunately, at time of writing, there’s no report of injuries to the Reds players, so here’s hoping we beat Boro this weekend with a fully fit team. Oh! And Babbel’s back from Beijing too.
Red Olympians, By Jon Wong
Red Olympians
It seems that Lucas Leiva took the above title too literally as he saw a red card flashed at his foul on his Liverpool team mate Javier Mascherano. The club mates were engaged in the Olympic Mens’ Football Semi Final where Argentina outclassed Brazil 3-0 to deny the World Cup winners an Olympic gold yet again.
Lucas was shown a straight red card while his team mate Thiago Neves was also sent off for a tackle on Mascherano as well.
Argentina’s goals came from a Sergio Aguero brace and a late penalty from Juan Riquelme. All goals coming in the second half.
Argentina now marches into the Final against African powerhouse, Nigeria this Saturday. Mascherano has the chance to earn himself a second Olympic gold medal while Lucas may have to settle for bronze should Brazil come out tops in the bronze medal match.
Good luck to both.
It seems that Lucas Leiva took the above title too literally as he saw a red card flashed at his foul on his Liverpool team mate Javier Mascherano. The club mates were engaged in the Olympic Mens’ Football Semi Final where Argentina outclassed Brazil 3-0 to deny the World Cup winners an Olympic gold yet again.
Lucas was shown a straight red card while his team mate Thiago Neves was also sent off for a tackle on Mascherano as well.
Argentina’s goals came from a Sergio Aguero brace and a late penalty from Juan Riquelme. All goals coming in the second half.
Argentina now marches into the Final against African powerhouse, Nigeria this Saturday. Mascherano has the chance to earn himself a second Olympic gold medal while Lucas may have to settle for bronze should Brazil come out tops in the bronze medal match.
Good luck to both.
Monday, August 18, 2008
EPL: Sunderland 0 - 1 Liverpool, Match Report By Jonno
The march towards number 19 has started!
It was a highly anticipated match, especially with the never ending transfer saga involving a certain captain of a midlands club. On top of that the capture of our new number seven, Robbie Keane (Reggie Keane to some), made most of us looking forward to this match even more than usual. Sunderland have strengthened their squad themselves with a host of players, many of them the former colleagues of our own Robbie, and a certain spitter that we all love to hate.
The match started with both sides lining up with a 4 - 4 - 2, that surprised me a little, I would say that many would be expecting the 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 which served us so well towards the end of last season and with teams needing to hit the ground running rather than ease their way into the season, it was certainly a strange decision from Rafa, especially with Xabi missing from the starting line-up. His place was taken by Damien Plesis, a promising bright young star that had starring roles in last season's march towards becoming the national champion with the Reserves. Another surprise was the inclusion of Sami ahead of Daniel Agger, although that one is more understandable with Sunderland looking to pump lots of high ball into the area.
Many were cursing Rafa when Sami had a mad moment with his weak header inviting Diouf of all people to have a clear sight of goal, luckily, as usual, Carra came to our rescue, nicking the ball away to concede a corner. From there, both sides were sussing each other out with hopeful probing balls that came to naught.
Sensing that we are still feeling our way through the match, Sunderland grew in confidence, starting to ask more questions of us, often packing the midfield to choke us and not allowing much space. We were lucky that their players were feeling their way through as well and weren't as sharp. They did however, snap us into action and the Reds were passing with a little more zest and purpose towards the second period of the half, however, these moves were often broken down by Sunderland who packed their defense and covering midfielders, at times with as many as 6 in the box to track runs and frustrate the Reds, and frustrate they did. There were a few moments of brilliance from the Reds when they put some nice passes together to open up the Sunderland defense and got a few shots in, one such moment was when Robbie cleverly brought down the ball, swiveled and let one fly with his left boot which missed the right hand post by about a foot. So close yet so far.
Sunderland were happy to go into half time scoreless, but they know that half time came at the right time, for them, just as we were controlling the game and started asking serious question about them.
The second half started the way the first one ended, Xabi came on for Damien who had a bit of a back problem and Liverpool came flying off the blocks, stepping up a couple of gears and went looking for that first goal that would open the game up. The warning was there, we are not leaving until we get the 3 points we came for, it almost came when Kuyt somehow managed to conjure space for himself and tested Gordon with his left foot, the rebound dropped nicely for our strikers to follow up but both Robbie and El Nino went for the same ball and El Nino's shot actually came off Robbie and went out for a goal kick, much to our frustration.
Next was Xabi's turn to try when he let fly another beauty from inside our half that sent Gordon scrambling back, only to breathe a sigh of relief to see it sail wide by a couple of feet. By this time, Robbie was already taken off and replaced with another youngster who impressed in the reserves, Nabil El Zhar. He brought much pace to the right hand side with Kuyt moved to a more central role.
As the match was drawing to a close, it was Xabi who made the difference when he sent a searching ball towards Torres who let fly a daisy cutter that went all the way and bulged the net. That sent the travelling fans and M Bar into a bouncing frenzy, with the fans bouncing nonstop until the final whistle came.
It wasn't vintage Liverpool, more of a smash and grab job at Sunderland, but I will take the 3 points as it was the first game of the season and a usual, our lads are still some way from full fitness and understanding, not less between Robbie and Nando, but there are signs that this team can push on, with lots of improvement that can be made and especially our Olympians who are due back soon, it's a nice build up to the bigger tests that await us. With the new look team and depth; it certainly excites any Red in the world as we look forward to the Boro game at home next week with greater anticipation. Boro are no pushovers, as shown when they beat a more fancied Spurs 2 - 1, but we know we will be fitter, stronger and another week's worth of training under our belt and we certainly look forward for Robbie to make his competitive bow at Anfield in the League. Walk on...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
MyRAWK's Got A New Home!
The MyRAWK Committee is pleased to announce that we've launched our very own brand spanking new website. Point your browsers to http://www.my-rawk.com to check it out. There will be new features to be added to our new home. Stay tuned while we improve our home further.
www.my-rawk.com - Home to the loudest and most passionate independent LFC supporting community in Malaysia!
www.my-rawk.com - Home to the loudest and most passionate independent LFC supporting community in Malaysia!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Jon W's View on The Barry Transfer Saga:
The Red’s Given a Barry-go-round?Look, I don’t know about other Reds but me…I don’t think I rate Gareth Barry as much as Rafa seems to. Now I’m not saying that Rafa’s out of his mind to suggest the American w4nk3rs fork out £18mil for him, it’s just that I don’t think he’s worth that much. I’m not English but I’m all for seeing more local players being given a chance to shine on the pitch. However, the caveat is English players plying their trade in the UK
Bottom line is Barry, in my mind should only cost about £8mil tops.
"I had a talk with him beforehand. He was in the right frame of mind and wanted to play and there was nothing that would have stopped him which was very pleasing," he said.
"He wanted to play and he knew the consequences so the decision was very much his."
We’ve certainly been given the Barry-go-round. In a chat I had with Bert this morning, I created a new word to describe him. I can’t reproduce the individual words here since the content should be family friendly. The new term is ‘Fwankwitard’. It’s a combination of 3 very ‘poetic’ words. Can you make out what they are? A mug of bevy or Coke on me this Saturday if you can guess.
UCL: Standard Liege 0 Vs 0 Liverpool FC, Match Report By Will Tan
Our long march towards Rome 2009 started in
Standard
Still, our players failed to heed the warning and in the 12th minute, Dossena was penalised for a raised hand to stop a cross and a penalty was duly given despite the protests from Arbeloa and Dossena that it was outside the box and that it was ball to hand. This time, the referee sided with the Belgians. Pepe,
Still, our back 4 of Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger and Dossena had trouble coping with the zippy play of the Belgians who were quick and decisive in their play and had belief and played with passion and their hearts to take the game to
Our play was tentative and hesitant and we hardly troubled the Belgian keeper. In the middle of the park, Plessis and Alonso took to the pitch whilst Gerrard was rested and Carragher was made captain for the night. Benayoun and Kuyt were on the flanks with Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres upfront. With no shots to show for their effort, our front line looked like a flop. The Belgians had our GBP48m frontline in their pockets with intelligent double team every time our front two had the ball and they were not able to muster any trouble for the Belgian keeper. And Torres’s frustration showed when he had a shot from 30 yards that flew wide – so did Xabi Alonso who had a mis-kick from a similar range that was closer to the corner flag than the Belgian goal. That pretty much sums up our attacking game ….. and the night
Even when Gerrard was called into action replacing our new GBP20million dollar man, Robbie Keane, Gerrard did not manage to galvanize his teammates. He could do no more than flash 2 free kicks goal bound - one zipped narrowly over the bar whilst the other was an easy catch for the Belgian keeper in the last few minutes of extra time.
The game bore a lot of similarity with last season’s away game against Besiktas and it was a nightmare to relive it over again. Only this time, we were lucky to have come out from the game with a scoreless draw when it could have easily been a loss. Well done to Standard Liege for they proved to be worthy opposition for our team and were better than us on the night. If
The sleeping RED giant from
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Post Match Interview with Andy Townsend- UCL Qualifier: Standard Liege VS Liverpool FC
To all Fans, last night's game really stunk and we were lucky that we were saved by Pepe Reina. Last night's combination of El Keano (El Nino and Robbie Keane) looks promising but you might want to think to get this thing going a bit more faster!!
Anyhow, please enjoy the post match interview brought to you from MyRAWK TV! See you this SATURDAY/SUNDAY at the M BAR @ 12:30AM. For those that do not know where the M BAR, its after Eastin Hotel, PJ at Phileo Damansara 1. See you there for the start of the march to no. 19.
Anyhow, please enjoy the post match interview brought to you from MyRAWK TV! See you this SATURDAY/SUNDAY at the M BAR @ 12:30AM. For those that do not know where the M BAR, its after Eastin Hotel, PJ at Phileo Damansara 1. See you there for the start of the march to no. 19.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
EPL 08-09 Season Opener: Sunderland vs Liverpool
EPL football season is back and so is MyRAWK's match gathering. Come join us to watch The Reds take on a Sunderland side managed by an old foe: Roy Keane, this Saturday nite / Sunday morning late kick-off game. Join in the chanting and singing to support our new strike partnership - Fernando "El Nino" Torres and Robbie Keane, one of the most feared attacking force in the EPL. We'll also be making an important and exciting announcement and launch a brand new look for MyRAWK. So, Are You RED Enough to join us this weekend?Match: Sunderland vs Liverpool FC
Ground: The Stadium of Light
Date: August 17, 2008 (SUNDAY)
Kick Off: 12:25 am
Astro Channel: 813
Venue: The MBAR, (next to Eastin Hotel PJ)
Cover Charge: NONE
Membership Fee: NONE
Pls email to: myrawk@gmail.com for more info.
Contact: +6014 332 9718/ +6012 335 9208
** The new look MyRAWK is coming!**
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pre-season Friendly: Valerenga VS Liverpool Tonight Live on Astro!
VS 
Fellow MyRAWKites,
Please take note of the live pre-season friendly match against Valerenga, starting 00:55 tonight on astro - channel 811: SuperSport.
Catch our new boys: Keane, N'gogg, Dossena, Cavalieri and our highly rated youngster in action!
** LFC won the match 1-4, with goals from Alonso, Torres, Benayoun and N'gog.
-MyRAWK-
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Robbie Keane: Liverpool's New No. 7
Life has turn full circle for this boy-hood Red after initially turning down the chance to join Liverpool 14 years ago as a young teenager. He checks into Anfield with the 2nd highest transfer fee ever paid by the club (after Fernando "el nino" Torres) - £19 million (to increase to £20 million with add-on bonuses).
He will be assigned the no. 7 shirt made famous by the legendary Kevin Keegan and "King" Kenny Dalglish. Let's hope we see his trademark cart-wheeling, machine-gun firing goal celebrations at the Kop end.
Welcome home to your spiritual footballing home Robbie Keane. Let's hope the new no. 7 + no. 9 partnership will turn into the deadliest attacking combo in EPL.
-MyRAWK-
Monday, July 28, 2008
The fighting philosophy of Bill Shankly
The fighting philosophy of Bill Shankly
In the first of our series of extracts from the Guardian book of football, Eric Todd talks to the legendary Liverpool manager - a players' man who has always been 'daft about fitba'
* Eric Todd
* The Guardian, Monday July 28 2008
Liverpool legend Bill Shankly celebrates in front of the club's fans. Photograph: PA
Like the state of holy matrimony, an interview with Bill Shankly, manager of
Thirty years have passed since my first sight of Shankly playing at Deepdale in the company of the Beatties (not related), the O'Donnells (brothers), Jimmy Milne, Jimmy Dougal and Harry Holdcroft, that most handsome of goalkeepers. Even in those days Shankly was a busy, fussy character who always played with his palms turned outwards, creating the remote illusion of a sailing ship striving for that little extra help from the wind.
"Now, now," protested Shankly, when I suggested that analogy. "It gave me strength. Did you notice too that I played on my toes all the time? Like a ballet dancer? That gave me strength in my calves, and I’ve still got it.
"I was always daft about football. I went to Carlisle when I was 17 and a half, moved to Preston in 1933, and finished playing in 1949 when I went to
Shankly sipped his tea, long since cold, before he set off on a new theme. "People often ask me if I ever made a mistake. Well, to my mind 'mistake' is a misused word, especially in football. For example, you might say it was a mistake for a club to buy such and such a player but that is not necessarily true. The player might not be able to settle down or to fit in. He might not suit his environment. Just bad luck. A footballer’s not like a hat or a coat that you can leave at a shop if it does not fit or suit you."
"Mind you, there are some managers I’ve known who have gone about things the wrong way. The manager above all things should be solely responsible for the playing and training staffs and all tactics. He must be able to coach and to explain such basic things as how to kick a ball and how to pass it and control it. In other words, he must know what he's talking about. What good is it to go to a golf professional for lessons if he doesn’t know the game? The same with a football manager.
"Mind you, I would not say the best players make the best managers, although I think that's been more the case in recent years - but a manager makes things so much harder for himself if he can't explain the game to his players. And even that's only half the battle. To get the best out of his men, the manager has to work to a tactical plan they understand which need not necessarily be the one he'd like himself. For instance, at
"Before I forget I must just tell you about Denis Law. When I went to
After this diversion Shankly picked up his management thread as if he had never left it. "As for me, if they're not satisfied with me, they'll get rid of me. We have a responsibility to the people of
Shankly is young enough to have expectations of seeing that day, successful enough to withstand those tribulations to which so many of his kind have succumbed, patient enough to go on making a living until he can retire and take Nessie, his long-suffering wife, on their first real holiday in 25 years. When they went to a football match during their honeymoon, Nessie had a hint of what was in store in the years ahead. "A wonderful, understanding woman," said Shankly, whose present idea of a holiday is to stay in bed until mid-morning.
He neither smokes nor drinks but sees no reason why others should not do so - in moderation - and he has a lively sense of humour, although he is not conscious of it. If he were asked to think of something funny, he would be a slow starter. He is, however, master of the "off the cuff" type of humour and frequently reduces his players and press conference to hysterics with asides he had meant to be taken seriously. The sayings of Shankly are as forthright and weighty as the sayings of Mao. In the streets around Anfield they are also much more respected.
Shankly is not impressed easily nor is he a willing subject for embarrassment. When he put through his own goal in Tom Finney's testimonial, he was no more remorseful than a lad caught pinching jam from the larder. Only once, perhaps, did he go close to blushing. He played in a game alongside Frank Soo of
I think it would be an exaggeration to say that Shankly is regarded generally as a "popular" manager - except at Anfield, where the Kop acknowledges him to be omnipotent. He is not as aloof as he used to be but he is not easy to know, not easy to draw out. His conversation, like the man himself, is fitful. He speaks in Morse, as it were. But for all that he is, and always has been, among the genuinely dedicated managers and his success as a player and as a manager has been achieved the hard way. He has in his time made mistakes over transfers - that is my view, not his - but he covered them up effectively. Above all, Shankly is a players' man who knows that if he fights for them, they will fight for him. It seems a sound philosophy.
The Duke of Wellington is reported to have made sure personally that his troops - who did most of the work - had comfortable billets. Shankly subscribes to the same principles and now squeezes the duties of accommodation inspector into his already congested schedule.
Before I left him, Shankly summoned the manager of a hotel and gave him his instructions. "There'll be, eh, 17, in the party," he said. "So, eh, that'll be 17 fillet steaks – I’ll let you know how we want them done when we arrive - with chips. For afterwards, eh, there'll be 17 fresh fruit salads and fresh cream. Right? Then for breakfast, eh ..." A players' man indeed.
** Part of the interview was editted by MyRAWK for the purposed of easy reading. To read the entire article in it's original uneditted form, kindly click on the The Guardian link on top.
Sir Bob Paisley: Humble man who never walked alone
Humble man who never walked alone
In an article originally published on 22/02/1996, Frank Keating reflects on Bob Paisley's funeral
* Frank Keating
* The Guardian, Monday July 28 2008
Good Bob Paisley was laid to rest in his parish churchyard yesterday as Liverpool supporters respected his family's request for privacy, and there were fewer than 100 gathered outside when the simple coffin, adorned with red and white roses, was carried into St Peter's, Woolton. There will be a more acclaiming memorial service in the city in the spring.
His widow Jessie, their three children and seven grand-children led the mourners, who included a number of players from
Two of those, Fagan and Evans, would have been ruminating through moist eyes on the days when all the blazing red fires that were too hot for Europe were lit in the Anfield bootroom, which, legend has it, was instituted by the late Bill Shankly after he arrived to manage the dingy Second Division club at Christmas 1959 and kept on the two backroom boys from the previous regime, Fagan and Paisley.
By touching fluke this very day is published a biography, Shankly by Stephen F Kelly, which celebrates the founder of the feast. Kelly writes: "If there was any magic, it came from that small group who gathered within its four walls... all that came out of that bootroom was plain common sense."
And you can just picture it: a pot of tea on the hob, Shankly in his woolly cardie,
Cosy little natters at elevenses which, in their way, girdled the globe - as pictures of yesterday's funeral will have. The Geordie adopted - and how! - by the Scousers knew he would be buried at St Peter's, which he and Jessie attended each Sunday for years. St Peter's! To the end he would tell of the finest night of his career, after Liverpool had won the first of their European Cups, soundly thrashing Borussia Mönchengladbach in
A number of the obits to Paisley mentioned that, however much the champagne bubbled, the beaming manager bursting out of his ill-fitting
Well, true in fact but not in theory. Halfway through the do a big mitt gripped my arm fondly. "A Keating's a boy who should know," said Bob. "D'you think there's any chance of getting a bottle of Guinness round here?" I searched every nook. The St Peter's Holiday Inn did not stock Guinness. "Ah me," said Bob, "that means only me and the Pope up the road and Horace [Yates, the teetotal sports editor of the Liverpool Daily Post] over there are the only three sober men in Rome tonight."
By then the joint was dancing. Lo and behold, they struck up the Gay Gordons.
Friday, July 25, 2008
RAWK Forum: This season’s Defence – an Attack , By yorkykopite
Liverpool have started every season under Rafa with a worse defence than their main rivals. There are several reasons why we haven’t put in a serious title bid in the last four seasons and most of them fall easily off the tongue – lack of money, injuries, lack of depth in the squad, off the field public suicide. But the main reason has been our defence.
I say this in full knowledge that Rafa’s teams have conceded fewer goals than Arsenal (three times) and Man Utd (once). I also know that Pepe Reina (deservedly) has won the Golden Gloves in his first two seasons here. But I’m not talking about blocking attacks, which we’ve been supremely good at. I’m talking about our relative inability to attack from the back. Unlike the other three we have been poor at creating plays from the defence. This season, hopefully, things will be very different. This season our defence might become an effective first line of attack.
The theory
There is, of course, an old-fashioned view in football that the prime job of the back-4 is to defend. If there’s anything left over after the opposition striker has been shimmied off the ball or the winger bundled into touch, then that’s very nice. But only in the sense that the packaging on a birthday present is very nice. You can do without it. Well, this idea may have been valid a few years ago in English football when a centre-back was judged purely on his ability to clear his lines and marshal the offside plan (Eye-Ore!), but not anymore. Today the job of the back-4 is to do both – to defend and attack. A successful back-4 has to be able defend and attack equally well and to switch between the two without pausing, taking a mental breather, or acquiring an alien mind-set. This means everybody. If a single part of the unit is not happy on the ball that simply increases the burden on the others and reduces the potency of the whole.
In the modern game defenders spend a longer time with the ball at their feet than anyone else in the team. It’s a crime if they can’t use that time to cause the opposition problems. A back-4 of Finnan-Carragher-Hyypia-Riise could be heroic in defence. It often was. But ask it to attack and you could almost see the thought-bubbles full of agonised question marks floating free from the players’ skulls.
The tradition
We know what it takes at Liverpool because we’ve had what it takes. We developed creative defences far earlier than anyone else in England. Cloughie’s teams – especially the Derby one – could be creative at the back but it was Liverpool who possessed a near-monopoly of defenders who took their offensive duties seriously. Thompson, Smith, Hughes, Lawrenson, Gillespie and – of course – the great Alan Hansen. Hansen often jokes today that he never crossed the half-way line. First of all that’s not true. Jocky sometimes carried the ball at high speed into the opposition penalty area where more often than not he’d bump into four or five unmarked attackers queuing up to shoot. But even in his later years, when the knees had gone, Hansen could still attack from the back. A skilful centre back, as Agger has repeatedly shown, doesn’t have to move a great distance with the ball to delete two opponents from the game and set up an attack. He just has to do it quickly.
On the wings, too, we’ve had entrepreneurial full-backs. Lawler, Nicol, Neal, the criminally underrated Lindsay and the long-lamented Rob Jones. Rolls-Royce footballers in unglamorous positions, they were key to whatever success the teams they played in enjoyed. What other right-back has turned up in open play in an inside-left position to put a team 1-0 ahead in the European Cup final? For that matter what other left-back has blasted his way into the penalty box to fire his team 1-0 ahead in a European Cup final? The answer to both, of course, is our full-backs, Zico and Barney – players of varying talent, I think, but both holding a similar belief that the team they played for was flexible and ingenious enough to cover for an inspired moment’s walkabout.
The inheritance
I admire what Rafa has achieved with our defence since 2004. Under Houllier the back-4 was valiant but it was not equipped for the modern game – especially in Europe. Even when Liverpool had the ball the defence was square! I mean, what better way than a square defence for saying to a colleague “for Christ’s sake don’t pass the thing to me”? Rafa changed all that. He staggered the defence when we had possession. He took an inadequate full-back and made the best centre-back stopper in the world out of Carragher. He freed up big Sam’s game and allowed him to try and work his way out of a problem rather than just whack the ball up the field all the time (something that Houllier seemed to have red-lined ever since Henchoz once screwed up at White Hart Lane). He made a European-Cup winner out of the lamentable Riise and he turned Finnan into the marauding right-back he’d once been at Fulham.
But it was still not enough. Not enough to win the league anyway. That back-4 made a great defence, but it was not an attack. Not by a long way.
The competition
I don’t want to dwell too much on the others. We can briefly admire them, especially the full backs. Evra, Clichy, Sagna, Ashley Cole (Christ, I said it) – all of them add such attacking dynamism to their teams. The centre backs too are, on the whole, quick with the ball and happy to have it at their feet. Carvalho, in particular, is a master at turning defensive play into an attacking play in a blink of an eye.
We saw in the Euros how some of the most eye-catching players were positioned at full-back. Boswinga, Zhirkov, Lahm, Ramos, even van Bronckhurst – all of them (apart from maybe Lahm) did well at the back. But mainly they did well in attack, stretching play, frequently getting beyond their own ‘wingers’, always looking to drive into the opposition half. I don’t know if it was Guus Hidddink who pioneered this style of full-back play but he certainly perfected it – at South Korea, PSV, and now Russia. And not one of his full backs, at any of these teams, was an established star.
The future
Clearly Rafa has made the full-back positions his priority over the summer. Both Degen and Dossena are meant to be attacking full backs with plenty of pace – men who think about the offensive side of their game as much as the defensive. Degen, it’s even been said by Dortmund fans, isn’t that much of a defender (something he seemed a bit too keen to prove against Lucerne) – a fact that Rafa seems uncharacteristically blasé about at the moment. It’s possible, of course, that Degen will end up being Kuyt’s understudy on the right of midfield rather than a proper right-back, but I doubt it. It’s more likely that he and Arbeloa will be vying for the number 2 spot. Spain’s squad player versus Switzerland’s squad player. It ought to be no contest. We’ll see.
Dossena looks a safer bet and comes with a reputation for having elite pace. I like the sound of that. If Babel continues on the left hand side then we shall need a left full-back who can attack that area on the wing that Babel always vacates when he’s running with the ball. This is a great opportunity for the Italian lad. My guess is that a lot of opposition right-backs will have a wretched time against the Babel-Dossena combo this year. I’m a Fabio Aurelio fan. He sees passes, especially infield passes, that other full-backs fail to spot. But, as always with Fabio, he’s likely to prove more of a handful for the physicians than the footballers.
And then the centre backs. I think Rafa will soon have to make the hardest decision of his coaching career. We now have four excellent centre-backs – all of them with proven ability, all of them keen to play. No one likes to rotate centre-halves. It’s not done. Barring injuries, therefore, Rafa will probably end up with a consistent centre-back pairing for the league. Who will be in it?
I said earlier that “if a single part of the unit is not happy on the ball that simply increases the burden on the others and reduces the potency of the whole”. For that reason I would look to play Agger and Skrtel. For me they are the best centre backs we possess. They are both quick, decisive and positionally aware. They both recycle the ball quickly when they get it. They are the most attack-minded centre-back pairing we have and may quite easily turn out to be the best in the Premier League. They are also both at a stage in their careers where they will be wanting regular first-team football. Treading water at this point in their careers is no good at all – especially for Agger who’s already missed out on a whole season of football.
Agger’s ability to attack space with the ball is already famous. He knows it’s a crime to dawdle even if there’s bags of time, and he has the pace to make for a gap in the opposition’s front line if he’s invited in. He’s also the consummate ‘picture-changer’. If nothing appears on in front of him, Agger is happy to move a few yards with the ball (rapidly) to see whether the picture is different from somewhere else. That’s when gaps open up and that’s why Liverpool are able to build quickly from the back when Agger plays. Of course Agger and Skrtel have yet to play together. It’s possible that there’ll be absolutely no rapport between them. But that’s highly unlikely. My own guess is that Skrtel, because of his similar ability to move with the ball at his feet, will actually make things a lot easier for Agger – pretty much as Lawrenson made things easier for Hansen. When you get two centre backs who have the ability to carry the ball it doesn’t half make things difficult for the opposition attack. You can’t sit back and let them come on to you – as teams do with Carragher and Hyypia – because they’ll just keep coming forward at pace. Instead of the floated nothing-ball into a crowded forward area you’ll probably end up with an extra, unmarked, man joining the attack at high speed. That’s usually fatal.
Of course I feel like a regicide in relegating Carragher. Carragher is the King of the Kop. The player who has most defined Rafa’s first age at Anfield. But there are two reasons why he might not play such a prominent role in the second age. Firstly, he’s already playing to the maximum of his ability. He has been for several years. But with wear and tear – and let’s face it Carra has acquired a hell of a lot of it over the years – he’s now straining to keep in touch with the standards he’s set himself. Jamie is the sort of defender who, even at the peak of his powers, was all about stretching that extra impossible yard to nick the ball away or block a shot. Some of the blocks he produced echoed round the football world. Like the one against Robben in the first Semi at Anfield or the cramp-defying block in extra time in the Final. They were miraculous. But Jamie is all about driving the machine to the extreme – he was so good, at his peak, because he left nothing in reserve. So the question is ‘what happens when Carragher can no longer push himself to these physical limits?’ A long time ago a similar all-action defender, Emlyn Hughes, held the European Cup aloft twice in two years. Twelve months later a kid called Hansen had nicked his place. It happens.
The second reason why Jamie might lose his automatic spot is to do with the back-4 as an attacking unit. Jamie does dawdle on the ball when he gets it. He cannot run into the gaps and once he’s stopped he finds it difficult to start again. Rather than attack open space and dishevel the opposition Carra prefers to wait for Alonso or Mascherano to come back and start the attack themselves. This means we often start moves with 5 or 6 men already behind the ball. No wonder our wingers have such a thin time of it. No defender is better suited to a siege than Carragher. No question about that. When Liverpool are under the cosh for most of the match, defending deep, you want him in your side. But with the team – hopefully – playing more in the opponent’s half this season, and with a high line, his qualities are a bit less important.
And what of Sami? Until Skrtel found his groove I thought he was our best defender last season. But I don’t think Hyypia responds well to rotation either. He can take an age – sometimes 4 or 5 games – to get up to speed once he’s a missed a few. That’s no good for a centre back. You either give Sam the lion’s share of the games or you use him in an emergency.
So
I’m excited by what lies ahead. I honestly don’t think that any of our other main rivals have such an obvious way of improving as we do. If the boys can inject more pace and adventure into our defensive unit then the whole team will begin to change character. If the ball gets recycled quicker then there will be more space and time for players like Babel and…..whoever ends up on the right-wing. But I don't want to fly that kuyt.
**This article was taken from yorkykopite's post in RAWK (click link to directly access into the forum pages). A big MyRAWK shout out to him for allowing us to reproduce his excellent post in our blog. Thanks mate! YNWA.
I say this in full knowledge that Rafa’s teams have conceded fewer goals than Arsenal (three times) and Man Utd (once). I also know that Pepe Reina (deservedly) has won the Golden Gloves in his first two seasons here. But I’m not talking about blocking attacks, which we’ve been supremely good at. I’m talking about our relative inability to attack from the back. Unlike the other three we have been poor at creating plays from the defence. This season, hopefully, things will be very different. This season our defence might become an effective first line of attack.
The theory
There is, of course, an old-fashioned view in football that the prime job of the back-4 is to defend. If there’s anything left over after the opposition striker has been shimmied off the ball or the winger bundled into touch, then that’s very nice. But only in the sense that the packaging on a birthday present is very nice. You can do without it. Well, this idea may have been valid a few years ago in English football when a centre-back was judged purely on his ability to clear his lines and marshal the offside plan (Eye-Ore!), but not anymore. Today the job of the back-4 is to do both – to defend and attack. A successful back-4 has to be able defend and attack equally well and to switch between the two without pausing, taking a mental breather, or acquiring an alien mind-set. This means everybody. If a single part of the unit is not happy on the ball that simply increases the burden on the others and reduces the potency of the whole.
In the modern game defenders spend a longer time with the ball at their feet than anyone else in the team. It’s a crime if they can’t use that time to cause the opposition problems. A back-4 of Finnan-Carragher-Hyypia-Riise could be heroic in defence. It often was. But ask it to attack and you could almost see the thought-bubbles full of agonised question marks floating free from the players’ skulls.
The tradition
We know what it takes at Liverpool because we’ve had what it takes. We developed creative defences far earlier than anyone else in England. Cloughie’s teams – especially the Derby one – could be creative at the back but it was Liverpool who possessed a near-monopoly of defenders who took their offensive duties seriously. Thompson, Smith, Hughes, Lawrenson, Gillespie and – of course – the great Alan Hansen. Hansen often jokes today that he never crossed the half-way line. First of all that’s not true. Jocky sometimes carried the ball at high speed into the opposition penalty area where more often than not he’d bump into four or five unmarked attackers queuing up to shoot. But even in his later years, when the knees had gone, Hansen could still attack from the back. A skilful centre back, as Agger has repeatedly shown, doesn’t have to move a great distance with the ball to delete two opponents from the game and set up an attack. He just has to do it quickly.
On the wings, too, we’ve had entrepreneurial full-backs. Lawler, Nicol, Neal, the criminally underrated Lindsay and the long-lamented Rob Jones. Rolls-Royce footballers in unglamorous positions, they were key to whatever success the teams they played in enjoyed. What other right-back has turned up in open play in an inside-left position to put a team 1-0 ahead in the European Cup final? For that matter what other left-back has blasted his way into the penalty box to fire his team 1-0 ahead in a European Cup final? The answer to both, of course, is our full-backs, Zico and Barney – players of varying talent, I think, but both holding a similar belief that the team they played for was flexible and ingenious enough to cover for an inspired moment’s walkabout.
The inheritance
I admire what Rafa has achieved with our defence since 2004. Under Houllier the back-4 was valiant but it was not equipped for the modern game – especially in Europe. Even when Liverpool had the ball the defence was square! I mean, what better way than a square defence for saying to a colleague “for Christ’s sake don’t pass the thing to me”? Rafa changed all that. He staggered the defence when we had possession. He took an inadequate full-back and made the best centre-back stopper in the world out of Carragher. He freed up big Sam’s game and allowed him to try and work his way out of a problem rather than just whack the ball up the field all the time (something that Houllier seemed to have red-lined ever since Henchoz once screwed up at White Hart Lane). He made a European-Cup winner out of the lamentable Riise and he turned Finnan into the marauding right-back he’d once been at Fulham.
But it was still not enough. Not enough to win the league anyway. That back-4 made a great defence, but it was not an attack. Not by a long way.
The competition
I don’t want to dwell too much on the others. We can briefly admire them, especially the full backs. Evra, Clichy, Sagna, Ashley Cole (Christ, I said it) – all of them add such attacking dynamism to their teams. The centre backs too are, on the whole, quick with the ball and happy to have it at their feet. Carvalho, in particular, is a master at turning defensive play into an attacking play in a blink of an eye.
We saw in the Euros how some of the most eye-catching players were positioned at full-back. Boswinga, Zhirkov, Lahm, Ramos, even van Bronckhurst – all of them (apart from maybe Lahm) did well at the back. But mainly they did well in attack, stretching play, frequently getting beyond their own ‘wingers’, always looking to drive into the opposition half. I don’t know if it was Guus Hidddink who pioneered this style of full-back play but he certainly perfected it – at South Korea, PSV, and now Russia. And not one of his full backs, at any of these teams, was an established star.
The future
Clearly Rafa has made the full-back positions his priority over the summer. Both Degen and Dossena are meant to be attacking full backs with plenty of pace – men who think about the offensive side of their game as much as the defensive. Degen, it’s even been said by Dortmund fans, isn’t that much of a defender (something he seemed a bit too keen to prove against Lucerne) – a fact that Rafa seems uncharacteristically blasé about at the moment. It’s possible, of course, that Degen will end up being Kuyt’s understudy on the right of midfield rather than a proper right-back, but I doubt it. It’s more likely that he and Arbeloa will be vying for the number 2 spot. Spain’s squad player versus Switzerland’s squad player. It ought to be no contest. We’ll see.
Dossena looks a safer bet and comes with a reputation for having elite pace. I like the sound of that. If Babel continues on the left hand side then we shall need a left full-back who can attack that area on the wing that Babel always vacates when he’s running with the ball. This is a great opportunity for the Italian lad. My guess is that a lot of opposition right-backs will have a wretched time against the Babel-Dossena combo this year. I’m a Fabio Aurelio fan. He sees passes, especially infield passes, that other full-backs fail to spot. But, as always with Fabio, he’s likely to prove more of a handful for the physicians than the footballers.
And then the centre backs. I think Rafa will soon have to make the hardest decision of his coaching career. We now have four excellent centre-backs – all of them with proven ability, all of them keen to play. No one likes to rotate centre-halves. It’s not done. Barring injuries, therefore, Rafa will probably end up with a consistent centre-back pairing for the league. Who will be in it?
I said earlier that “if a single part of the unit is not happy on the ball that simply increases the burden on the others and reduces the potency of the whole”. For that reason I would look to play Agger and Skrtel. For me they are the best centre backs we possess. They are both quick, decisive and positionally aware. They both recycle the ball quickly when they get it. They are the most attack-minded centre-back pairing we have and may quite easily turn out to be the best in the Premier League. They are also both at a stage in their careers where they will be wanting regular first-team football. Treading water at this point in their careers is no good at all – especially for Agger who’s already missed out on a whole season of football.
Agger’s ability to attack space with the ball is already famous. He knows it’s a crime to dawdle even if there’s bags of time, and he has the pace to make for a gap in the opposition’s front line if he’s invited in. He’s also the consummate ‘picture-changer’. If nothing appears on in front of him, Agger is happy to move a few yards with the ball (rapidly) to see whether the picture is different from somewhere else. That’s when gaps open up and that’s why Liverpool are able to build quickly from the back when Agger plays. Of course Agger and Skrtel have yet to play together. It’s possible that there’ll be absolutely no rapport between them. But that’s highly unlikely. My own guess is that Skrtel, because of his similar ability to move with the ball at his feet, will actually make things a lot easier for Agger – pretty much as Lawrenson made things easier for Hansen. When you get two centre backs who have the ability to carry the ball it doesn’t half make things difficult for the opposition attack. You can’t sit back and let them come on to you – as teams do with Carragher and Hyypia – because they’ll just keep coming forward at pace. Instead of the floated nothing-ball into a crowded forward area you’ll probably end up with an extra, unmarked, man joining the attack at high speed. That’s usually fatal.
Of course I feel like a regicide in relegating Carragher. Carragher is the King of the Kop. The player who has most defined Rafa’s first age at Anfield. But there are two reasons why he might not play such a prominent role in the second age. Firstly, he’s already playing to the maximum of his ability. He has been for several years. But with wear and tear – and let’s face it Carra has acquired a hell of a lot of it over the years – he’s now straining to keep in touch with the standards he’s set himself. Jamie is the sort of defender who, even at the peak of his powers, was all about stretching that extra impossible yard to nick the ball away or block a shot. Some of the blocks he produced echoed round the football world. Like the one against Robben in the first Semi at Anfield or the cramp-defying block in extra time in the Final. They were miraculous. But Jamie is all about driving the machine to the extreme – he was so good, at his peak, because he left nothing in reserve. So the question is ‘what happens when Carragher can no longer push himself to these physical limits?’ A long time ago a similar all-action defender, Emlyn Hughes, held the European Cup aloft twice in two years. Twelve months later a kid called Hansen had nicked his place. It happens.
The second reason why Jamie might lose his automatic spot is to do with the back-4 as an attacking unit. Jamie does dawdle on the ball when he gets it. He cannot run into the gaps and once he’s stopped he finds it difficult to start again. Rather than attack open space and dishevel the opposition Carra prefers to wait for Alonso or Mascherano to come back and start the attack themselves. This means we often start moves with 5 or 6 men already behind the ball. No wonder our wingers have such a thin time of it. No defender is better suited to a siege than Carragher. No question about that. When Liverpool are under the cosh for most of the match, defending deep, you want him in your side. But with the team – hopefully – playing more in the opponent’s half this season, and with a high line, his qualities are a bit less important.
And what of Sami? Until Skrtel found his groove I thought he was our best defender last season. But I don’t think Hyypia responds well to rotation either. He can take an age – sometimes 4 or 5 games – to get up to speed once he’s a missed a few. That’s no good for a centre back. You either give Sam the lion’s share of the games or you use him in an emergency.
So
I’m excited by what lies ahead. I honestly don’t think that any of our other main rivals have such an obvious way of improving as we do. If the boys can inject more pace and adventure into our defensive unit then the whole team will begin to change character. If the ball gets recycled quicker then there will be more space and time for players like Babel and…..whoever ends up on the right-wing. But I don't want to fly that kuyt.
**This article was taken from yorkykopite's post in RAWK (click link to directly access into the forum pages). A big MyRAWK shout out to him for allowing us to reproduce his excellent post in our blog. Thanks mate! YNWA.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Live Pre-season Friendly Match On Astro - Supersport: Hertha Berlin vs Liverpool
VS Fellow Reds, pls take note of the live pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin on Wednesday 23rd July morning at 1:40 am on Astro Supersports.
Catch it if you can!
**Editted: The match ended with a stalemate with Voronin missing a peno. One of the toughest pre-season match yet.
-MyRAWK-
Pre-Season Friendly: Wisla Krakow 1 - 1 Liverpool
Wisla Krakow 1-1 Liverpool: Gerrard injury scare for Reds
By Ian Winrow - Sunday Mirror, 20/07/08
Steven Gerrard has returned home from Liverpool's pre-season training camp with a groin strain.
The news came after a frustrating week for boss Rafa Benitez, who has been reported to the Premier League by Spurs chief Daniel Levy after publicly declaring his interest in Robbie Keane.
But Benitez insisted the Gerrard injury was a minor hiccup - and remains confident he will land £20million target Keane.
Benitez said: "Steven doesn't have a serious problem but he can't train and we knew he wouldn't be available for this game. In a week he will be okay."
And he shrugged off Levy's comments by saying: "It seems you can talk to a club but you can't say the name. Hopefully next week we will have same new names here."
Without Gerrard, the Reds took a sixth-minute lead when Andriy Voronin converted Yossi Benayoun's cross. Krakow's Tomas Jirsik levelled six minutes later.
Match Highlights:
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pre-season Friendly: Lucerne 1 vs Liverpool 2
FC Lucerne 1-2 Liverpool
Goal Highlights & Interviews:
By James Carroll - 16/07/2008 20:52
Liverpool's pre-season preparations continued with a 2-1 victory over FC Lucerne in Switzerland thanks to goals from Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin.
The Reds opened the scoring after ten minutes with a well worked goal. 17-year-old Spanish starlet Daniel Pacheco collected the ball on the edge of the box and slipped a fine pass through for Lucas, who stroked it first time past goalkeeper David Zibung. However, Lucerne hit back moments later when Philipp Degen was beaten to a header at the back post and the ball bounced across the face of goal allowing Gavranovic to nod home with new signing Deigo Cavalieri stranded. Liverpool's response was a positive one and, but for some good goalkeeping from Zibung, the Reds could have taken the lead much earlier than they did when Voronin netted a fine goal on 38 minutes. Collecting the ball just outside the box, the much-margined Ukrainian striker clipped a sumptuous chip over the head of Zibung. Voronin was handed a start by Rafa Benitez alongside Pacheco, with the youngster turning out another encouraging display. In midfield, Lucas joined Damien Plessis, Sebastian Leto and Yossi Benayoun. Degen, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Emiliano Insua made up the back four with a first start for new £3m signing Cavalieri in goal. Benitez made several changes at the break as the likes of Ryan Babel, Sami Hyypia, Martin Skrtel and Stephen Darby entered the fray but the pace of the game slowed considerably. Liverpool continued to look threatening but failed to find a third goal as Dirk Kuyt and Javier Mascherano were given late introductions. The Reds will continue to train in Switzerland ahead of Saturday's match with Polish champions Wisla Krakow.
Goal Highlights & Interviews:
Monday, July 14, 2008
Pre-season Friendly: Tranmere 0 vs Liverpool 1
Early test is unkind to spirited Tranmere
Jul 14 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post
CONVENTIONAL wisdom has it that the first date on the schedule of summer friendlies is not the ideal time for Tranmere to be playing sophisticated opposition like Liverpool.
It is too early in the pre-season programme for journeyman League One footballers to be sharp enough to live with a superior technical abilities of the Premiership stars.
Better to play Liverpool a few weeks down the line, to give them a more competitive game.
But picking and choosing dates isn’t an option for Tranmere when they have waited more than a decade to fix up a friendly with neighbours who happen to be one of the most illustrious clubs in the world.
Rovers had 15,000 reasons to be grateful for the visit of Rafael Benitez’s team in the form of the largest attendance at Prenton Park in more than four years.
The 90 minutes of football also had its specific advantages for Tranmere’s preparations for the new campaign.
Building fitness levels and stamina is a priority at this stage of the summer – and an afternoon of chasing while Liverpool pinged the ball around Prenton Park like pinball made for a demanding and valuable work out.
Tranmere had to run their socks off, to the extent that manager Ronnie Moore reckoned they would have “slept like babies” on Saturday night.
There were times, particularly in the first half, when the difference in class between the two teams was obvious.
No matter that Benitez fielded a mixture of first-team, fringe, reserve team players and new signings. Every man in a red shirt enjoyed a command over the ball that did not come so easily to the home players.
Rovers won’t have to cope with opposition with this level of technical finesse whoever they play over the course of the League One campaign that begins next month.
Tranmere were able to make a game of it thanks to hard running, doughty defending and finishing from the visitors that did that match up to their slick approach play.
Goalkeeper Danny Coyne made several sharp saves and was beaten by an exceptional strike from Yossi Benayoun for the 43rd minute goal.
Tranmere, testing out a 4-3-3 formation, left the midfield players with plenty of work to do and created only a thin ration of chances themselves.
Even so they had a near miss when Andrew Taylor’s 45th minute free-kick clipped the left-hand post and they created a clear opportunity on 77 minutes when Taylor’s cross from the left was headed over from close range by substitute Craig Curran.
An equaliser would have flattered Rovers but no-one was taking the scoreline too seriously.
Prenton Park has never boasted a larger attendance for a pre-season friendly, nor had a crowd that behaved quite like this one.
The signature of the afternoon was the excited babble of thousands of youngsters in Liverpool replica shirts making the most of a rare chance to see their heroes in the flesh at a fraction of Premiership prices. They did not know about match rules or etiquette, and probably did not care.
So when Steven Gerard made his first appearance of the afternoon, warming up on the touchline early in the second half as he prepared to join the action as a substitute, scores of young boys and girls in the paddock left their seats and scampered to the front in pursuit of an autograph.
A few minutes from the end the England midfielder provided a treat for spectators young and old – a pass played instinctively with the back of the heel through a crowded area that found its target 15 yards away with perfect weight and accuracy.
The performances of the summer’s new faces were of greatest interest to the Tranmere fans.
Early impressions are not always reliable but a lot of good solid work was done at right-back by trialist John Curtis.
The former Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and QPR player’s experience was evident and his fitness levels had benefited from training with Rovers on a trial basis for the past fortnight.
The three players signed last week look have some ground to make up fitness wise.
Irish midfielder George O’Callaghan, signed from Cork City, worked busily during the first hour before a little fatigue set in.
Edrissa Sonko found few opportunities to attack the Liverpool penalty area after joining the action as a 55th minute substitute for Chris Shuker.
Gareth Edds kept largely to a defensive midfield station before giving way to Adnan Ahmed on 67 minutes.
And Bas Savage, a 55th minute substitute for Ian Moore, showed he has a neat touch on the ball for a tall target man but did not have the opportunity to use his height to advantage inside the Liverpool box.
No-one one did more to counter the red tide of possession than midfielder Steve Jennings and Taylor’s contribution at left back took the eye.
But Rovers fans are already familiar with the quality of two of last season’s best performers.
Video Highlights: Benayoun's Stunner!
Jul 14 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post
CONVENTIONAL wisdom has it that the first date on the schedule of summer friendlies is not the ideal time for Tranmere to be playing sophisticated opposition like Liverpool.
It is too early in the pre-season programme for journeyman League One footballers to be sharp enough to live with a superior technical abilities of the Premiership stars.
Better to play Liverpool a few weeks down the line, to give them a more competitive game.
But picking and choosing dates isn’t an option for Tranmere when they have waited more than a decade to fix up a friendly with neighbours who happen to be one of the most illustrious clubs in the world.
Rovers had 15,000 reasons to be grateful for the visit of Rafael Benitez’s team in the form of the largest attendance at Prenton Park in more than four years.
The 90 minutes of football also had its specific advantages for Tranmere’s preparations for the new campaign.
Building fitness levels and stamina is a priority at this stage of the summer – and an afternoon of chasing while Liverpool pinged the ball around Prenton Park like pinball made for a demanding and valuable work out.
Tranmere had to run their socks off, to the extent that manager Ronnie Moore reckoned they would have “slept like babies” on Saturday night.
There were times, particularly in the first half, when the difference in class between the two teams was obvious.
No matter that Benitez fielded a mixture of first-team, fringe, reserve team players and new signings. Every man in a red shirt enjoyed a command over the ball that did not come so easily to the home players.
Rovers won’t have to cope with opposition with this level of technical finesse whoever they play over the course of the League One campaign that begins next month.
Tranmere were able to make a game of it thanks to hard running, doughty defending and finishing from the visitors that did that match up to their slick approach play.
Goalkeeper Danny Coyne made several sharp saves and was beaten by an exceptional strike from Yossi Benayoun for the 43rd minute goal.
Tranmere, testing out a 4-3-3 formation, left the midfield players with plenty of work to do and created only a thin ration of chances themselves.
Even so they had a near miss when Andrew Taylor’s 45th minute free-kick clipped the left-hand post and they created a clear opportunity on 77 minutes when Taylor’s cross from the left was headed over from close range by substitute Craig Curran.
An equaliser would have flattered Rovers but no-one was taking the scoreline too seriously.
Prenton Park has never boasted a larger attendance for a pre-season friendly, nor had a crowd that behaved quite like this one.
The signature of the afternoon was the excited babble of thousands of youngsters in Liverpool replica shirts making the most of a rare chance to see their heroes in the flesh at a fraction of Premiership prices. They did not know about match rules or etiquette, and probably did not care.
So when Steven Gerard made his first appearance of the afternoon, warming up on the touchline early in the second half as he prepared to join the action as a substitute, scores of young boys and girls in the paddock left their seats and scampered to the front in pursuit of an autograph.
A few minutes from the end the England midfielder provided a treat for spectators young and old – a pass played instinctively with the back of the heel through a crowded area that found its target 15 yards away with perfect weight and accuracy.
The performances of the summer’s new faces were of greatest interest to the Tranmere fans.
Early impressions are not always reliable but a lot of good solid work was done at right-back by trialist John Curtis.
The former Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and QPR player’s experience was evident and his fitness levels had benefited from training with Rovers on a trial basis for the past fortnight.
The three players signed last week look have some ground to make up fitness wise.
Irish midfielder George O’Callaghan, signed from Cork City, worked busily during the first hour before a little fatigue set in.
Edrissa Sonko found few opportunities to attack the Liverpool penalty area after joining the action as a 55th minute substitute for Chris Shuker.
Gareth Edds kept largely to a defensive midfield station before giving way to Adnan Ahmed on 67 minutes.
And Bas Savage, a 55th minute substitute for Ian Moore, showed he has a neat touch on the ball for a tall target man but did not have the opportunity to use his height to advantage inside the Liverpool box.
No-one one did more to counter the red tide of possession than midfielder Steve Jennings and Taylor’s contribution at left back took the eye.
But Rovers fans are already familiar with the quality of two of last season’s best performers.
Video Highlights: Benayoun's Stunner!
He's big, He was Red, His feet sticks out the bed!
All the best to our favourite bean pole down south! Just make sure you score all your goals against the rest of the EPL clubs and not us.
-MyRAWK-
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Downloaded Site for Liverpool FC fixtures 2008/2009
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL LIVERPOOL FC FANS!!
We at Malaysian RED and WHITE KOPties continue to serve all Liverpool FC fans especially those in Malaysia. With that in mind, we always continue to serve in the best interest of all Liverpool FC fans and in accordance to the traditions of Anfield and the KOP.We would like to announce that it is now possible to download the Liverpool FC match fixtures 2008/2009 for (outlook,yahoo, google, lotus and mac). Please go to this site and follow the instructions laid out in the website for downloading the match fixtures http://www.addadate.com/liverpool/index.html.
Enjoy!
Monday, June 30, 2008
RIP Joe Fagan, 12th March 1921 - 30th June 2001
Liverpool born and bred, he was a one of the original "Boot Room Boys." Humble and loyal, he gave the club great service for over 27-years from 1958 all the way up to 1985. His most successful season managing us was in 1983-1984, when we won the treble - the League, League Cup and the European Cup (our fourth star). He sadly passed away at the age of 80 in 2001. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of "Smoking Joe" joining the Anfield coaching setup.
Joe Fagan, a Red through and through. RIP & You'll Never Walk Alone.
-MyRAWK-
Thursday, June 19, 2008
John Arne Riise....... uh ah!
We wanna know..............ohhhhhhhh , how you score THAT goal! Check out this compilation of some of the spectecular goals scored by our very own Norwegian "Thor" in his 7 years career with LFC.
All the best to you in Roma (he has joined them for about £4m) and thanks for the memories and great service.
-MyRAWK-
All the best to you in Roma (he has joined them for about £4m) and thanks for the memories and great service.
-MyRAWK-
Monday, June 16, 2008
Liverpool FC 2008/2009 EPL Season Fixtures
Below is the newly released fixture list for LFC in the coming 08/09 EPL season:
August
16 Sunderland (A)
23 Middlesbrough (H)
30 Aston Villa (A)
September
13 Man Utd (H)
20 Stoke (H)
27 Everton (A)
October
4 Man City (A)
18 Wigan (H)
25 Chelsea (A)
29 Portsmouth (H)
November
1 Tottenham (A)
8 West Brom (H)
15 Bolton (A)
22 Fulham (H)
29 West Ham (H)
December
6 Blackburn (A)
13 Hull (H)
20 Arsenal (A)
26 Bolton (H)
28 Newcastle (A)
January
10 Stoke (A)
17 Everton (H)
27 Wigan (A)
31 Chelsea (H)
February
7 Portsmouth (A)
21 Man City (H)
28 Middlesbrough (A)
March
4 Sunderland (H)
14 Man Utd (A)
21 Aston Villa (H)
April
4 Fulham (A)
11 Blackburn (H)
18 Arsenal (H)
25 Hull (A)
May
2 Newcastle (H)
9 West Ham (A)
16 West Brom (A)
24 Tottenham (H)
August
16 Sunderland (A)
23 Middlesbrough (H)
30 Aston Villa (A)
September
13 Man Utd (H)
20 Stoke (H)
27 Everton (A)
October
4 Man City (A)
18 Wigan (H)
25 Chelsea (A)
29 Portsmouth (H)
November
1 Tottenham (A)
8 West Brom (H)
15 Bolton (A)
22 Fulham (H)
29 West Ham (H)
December
6 Blackburn (A)
13 Hull (H)
20 Arsenal (A)
26 Bolton (H)
28 Newcastle (A)
January
10 Stoke (A)
17 Everton (H)
27 Wigan (A)
31 Chelsea (H)
February
7 Portsmouth (A)
21 Man City (H)
28 Middlesbrough (A)
March
4 Sunderland (H)
14 Man Utd (A)
21 Aston Villa (H)
April
4 Fulham (A)
11 Blackburn (H)
18 Arsenal (H)
25 Hull (A)
May
2 Newcastle (H)
9 West Ham (A)
16 West Brom (A)
24 Tottenham (H)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Pre-season 08/09: Tentative Schedule.
16 June: Premier League fixtures released
7 July: All players return to training (non-internationals return earlier)
12 July: Friendly - Chester (a) TBC
Early July: Swiss Training Camp
Early July: FC Basle TBC
19 July: Crewe (a) TBC
26 July: Rangers (a) Confirmed
30 July: Villareal (a) Confirmed
5 Aug: Valerenga (a) TBC
12/13 Aug: CL Qualifer First Leg CL QR3
16 Aug: New Premier League Season begins
26/27 Aug: CL Qualifier Second Leg CL QR3
We will post the full EPL schedule for the coming season once its announce on Monday, 16th June.
-MyRAWK-
7 July: All players return to training (non-internationals return earlier)
12 July: Friendly - Chester (a) TBC
Early July: Swiss Training Camp
Early July: FC Basle TBC
19 July: Crewe (a) TBC
26 July: Rangers (a) Confirmed
30 July: Villareal (a) Confirmed
5 Aug: Valerenga (a) TBC
12/13 Aug: CL Qualifer First Leg CL QR3
16 Aug: New Premier League Season begins
26/27 Aug: CL Qualifier Second Leg CL QR3
We will post the full EPL schedule for the coming season once its announce on Monday, 16th June.
-MyRAWK-
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Season 2007/08 Goals Goals Goals from our men in RED!
Hello there and Hello All!
Here's a bit of the post season review of goals from the 2007/08 campaign. This might not have been the most succesful in terms of trophies but in terms of goals it was certainly an impressive one. Not just in terms of the amount, 116 in total, but also the quality.
Goals! Goals! Goals!
Fernando Torres arrived and brought 33 goals with him, while Steven Gerrard added an equally impressive 21 goals - the two of them dominate our top 10 goals. Apart from the Gerrard-Torres combination, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun (all 11) and Ryan Babel (10) all reached double figures.
Go below to watch out best goals of the season!
Here's a bit of the post season review of goals from the 2007/08 campaign. This might not have been the most succesful in terms of trophies but in terms of goals it was certainly an impressive one. Not just in terms of the amount, 116 in total, but also the quality.
Goals! Goals! Goals!
Fernando Torres arrived and brought 33 goals with him, while Steven Gerrard added an equally impressive 21 goals - the two of them dominate our top 10 goals. Apart from the Gerrard-Torres combination, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun (all 11) and Ryan Babel (10) all reached double figures.
Go below to watch out best goals of the season!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Euro 2008 Ad You Won't See In England: Torres's Impact in Liverpool
Here's a gem of an ad from Nike featuring Torres and literally, his impact on life in Liverpool off the footballing field. Seen scouser speaking Spanish en-masse? Heard the Torres song in Spanish ?
Check out the YouTube video!
Check out the YouTube video!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
In Memoriam: 29th May, 1985 - Heysel Stadium Disaster
In "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions," 38 Italian Juve fans and 1 Belgian perished in the tragic disaster caused by football hooliganism. Let's take a moment to remember those who parished and never let hooliganism back into the beautiful game.
In Memoria e Amicizia - in Memory and Friendship.
Rocco Acerra
Bruno Balli
Alfons Bos
Giancarlo Bruschera
Andrea Casula
Giovanni Casula
Nino Cerullo
Willy Chielens
Giuseppina Conti
Dirk Daenecky
Dionisio Fabbro
Jacques François
Eugenio Gagliano
Francesco Galli
Giancarlo Gonnelli
Alberto Guarini
Giovacchino Landini
Roberto Lorentini
Barbara Lusci
Franco Martelli
Loris Messore
Gianni Mastrolaco
Sergio Bastino Mazzino
Luciano Rocco Papaluca
Luigi Pidone
Bento Pistolato
Patrick Radcliffe
Domenico Ragazzi
Antonio Ragnanese
Claude Robert
Mario Ronchi
Domenico Russo
Tarcisio Salvi
Gianfranco Sarto
Giuseppe Spalaore
Mario Spanu
Tarcisio Venturin
Jean Michel Walla
Claudio Zavaroni
MyRAWK
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Jason Dasey interviews Craig Johnston
Most of the newer generation of REDs might not remember the name of Craig Johnston. He was THE creator and designer that came out with the Adidas Predator boots that adorned the feet of Gerrard, Zidane and countless other fotalling superstars through the years.
To those who absolutely idolised the all conqering team of the 80's, he'll always be affectionately know as the mop-haired Aussie and the one responsible for the "Anfield Rap" song. Retired at age 27 still at his peak, he will always be associated with LFC.
Checkout the interview conducted by ESPN Stars' Jason Dasey by clicking on the links below.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
We grieve for our fellow RED comrades from China
Torres doing his part in supporting the quake victimsMyRAWK extends our deepest heart felt condolences to all our fellow RED comrades and everyone affected by the devastating earth quake in Sichuan in China. As the death toll is rising to above 40, 000, lets do all we can to help them go through this difficult and testing period.
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silverSong of a lark.
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams
Be tossed and blown.
Walk on walk on
With hope in your hearts
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.
MyRAWK
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Welcome Home Sammy Lee: LFC Assistant Manager
Sammy Lee has return to his spiritual football home; Anfield, in his third spell at Liverpool. He has officially been appointed as the assistant to Rafa after the job has been vacant ever since Pako Ayesteran left in sensational circumstances.
Below are some pics from LiverpoolFC.TV (click link for more pictures from his 1st day back at Melwood)
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