News & Reports

Comments (25 Feb 2003):
I'm sorry I have not been updating this page. Too disappointed to. It's a real heartache to see how they have been faring of late. But I don't think that Houllier should leave cause of this. Sell a few players and next season we'll be better. It's like that, if the club wins something, people expect more. If expectations are not met, we blame the manager. I have faith in Houllier. I do hope that he doesn't leave. As for whether Liverpool can still qualify for the Champions League? Chances are really slim. But we hope they can.

Comments (1 Jan 2003): I just got back from abroad. Managed to watch part of some of the matches overseas, like the one against Man Utd and Charlton. I must say, watching Liverpool play can indeed cause a bad case of heart attack. Trust me on that one. They made so many bad bad mistakes and their attempts at scoring are few. It's just terrible. 

I had mentioned in this webpage in November that the real test comes in the form of bigger teams and the real test for Liverpool would be in December. Boy am I right or what. I kinda expected it from them eh. It's always like this during the holiday months for them eh. Tis the season for giving for them?! Don't they do this every Christmas or what? The same thing happened during this time in the last season. It's may be the holiday season but it's no excuse for them to slack. Just what is happening to them? 

Since my last update in November, they've only managed a 3 points out of a possible 21, and that's for December. It's not counting the points in November. If we do include that, it means they only managed a mere 4 points out of a possible 30 points. That's a really bad bad record for Liverpool. Liverpool are in a major crisis, just when all other teams are picking up their act and raring to chase after the title. Little wonder that Liverpool are now languishing in 7th position. How much further can they go if they don't get their act together. 

Critics and fans are calling for Houllier to be sacked and wonder why he's not getting any new players to improve the team. I think that firstly, he should get rid of the Senegalese players, then get others more worthy. He better boot them out before he gets booted out. But the problem with him is that he places way too much faith in some and none in others. It doesn't help that some of them are injured. From being in 2nd position, letting in almost the least number of goals to losing 9 games and being in 7th position, the title is clearly out of reach. So near yet so far. Aye......another empty handed season. They better start scoring and winning games otherwise we probably wouldn't even see them play in UEFA games next season. HOW DISAPPOINTING!!!

Comments (25 Nov 2002): Liverpool failed to capitalize on Arsenal's lost over the weekend and miss out on the chance of taking the position at the top of the League table. They only managed a mere 1 point out of a possible 9 in their last 3 League games. From being the only unbeaten team in the table to losing 2 games in 2 weeks? How bad can that get, after crashing out of the Champions League?! This horrid performance resulting in their current position. It isn't a bad thing to be ranked number 2 on the table, but it's just that they could have done much better and could have gone ahead of the pack. But they failed to do that and it's creating much pressure on themselves. 

Morale's probably at rock bottom at the moment. I can't understand why Houllier actually criticized Gerrard's recent performance. It's really unlike him. I thought he often stood by his players, refusing to make any negative comments. Is he trying a different approach this time? We absolutely have no idea. A week after those comments were made, they lost the game. Makes you wonder if it's an effective approach. Then again, it probably isn't? He's probably getting really frustrated with his players performance that he needed that outburst of criticism? 

Fans have been puzzled by Houllier's recent choice of players and tactics and with the recent disappointing performance, little wonder that more fans would be calling for Houllier to be sacked. Such is the soccer world. You win something, people demand more. If you don't meet their demands. Out you go. People wouldn't remember what you have done before as what matters is NOW. Then again, I think that it's too hasty a choice if that decision be made. Houllier has changed the whole club around. I for one, although I disagree with his choice of players and tactics feel that he's made great improvements to the club since he arrived. His only fault is placing too much faith in some players and not giving enough to others. 

Like I've always said, the real test comes in the form of bigger and difficult to win teams. It awaits to be seen next month what Liverpool can come up with.

Comments (4 Nov 2002): Will Liverpool be able to remain at the top of the League table? We're got to wait till December to see what happens. They've got a few tough games then, meeting Man Utd, Arsenal and Everton. Whether they would be able to retain that position depends on those games. As for the Champions League, it awaits to be seen if they can move on to the 2nd round. Hopefully, they would be able to.  

Comments (20 Oct 2002): Liverpool has managed to take advantage of the current poor form of other top teams and earned the 1st position in the table. That's great! It's fantastic! Although they won the last few games by a goal, a win is still a win. And they've managed to keep clean sheets in the last four league games. Like I've always said, the real test comes in the form of bigger and difficult to win teams, like Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Leeds, Everton and maybe Spurs. Well, they have won it against Chelsea and Leeds, hopefully, they can do the same against the other teams. Then the league title is definitely clearly in sight. But then again, it's still early days. We'll see how things are then and also in the Champions League games. Hopefully, they can get through to the second round and have us fans looking forward to some extra and exciting games. 

Date: 2 Oct 2002
Match: Liverpool Vs Spartak Moscow
Comments:
The score line could have read 8-0 if not for Owen who hit the goal post (This is really a nice move from him. He waited for defenders to come back before trying for goal. What a pity, it would have been a nice one), Heskey's goal which hit the goalie's knees and another (I can't really recall this one). It was a really unlucky day for Owen not to score. But, he played well. He unselfishly supplied and helped Heskey in both goals. The first goal, he gave up the chance to go for goal and let Heskey have a go at it. And the second as well. 

Houllier's choice of the 1st eleven was right this time round and his substitutions as well, deciding not to risk Henchoz. Everything went right for Liverpool. Riise was making those threatening runs along the flanks, crosses were nicely done, passes were rather accurate, tackles were precise and finishing was good. Only thing is that some players had the chance to score, but it seems like they didn't have the confidence to. But Everyone played well, Cheyrou was fantastic, so was Henchoz and Owen and Heskey combined well. What more can we ask from them. 

But if you think that the score line of 5-0 reflected Liverpool's prowess? Well, maybe 65% of it. I have to say that Spartak is really a lousy team in the first half -  defence was crap and striker force as well. No doubt, you would argue that Liverpool had a great day and made them seem lousy. True. But then what I feel is that Spartak didn't make an effort at all in the first half. They didn't make an effort to tackle. They were like wooden posts. Things changed in the second half, where Liverpool was finding it tougher to penetrate the Russian champion's midfield and defence. It was only in the last 10 minutes of the game that Liverpool scored 2 goals. A few times in the second half, you can't help but see Liverpool scrambling a little at the goal mouth and the Russian team could probably score a goal or two had their scoring abilities not let them down. 

Call me pessimistic but this is how I feel. As always, I feel that the real test comes in the form of bigger and difficult to win teams. True, you may say that Spartak is after all the Russian Champion and that every team has it's bad days and the game today was almost like the Valencia Vs Liverpool game where Liverpool was like Valencia and Spartak like Liverpool. Seems like it eh. But I feel that Liverpool still needs to make lots of improvements. If they can win teams like Arsenal, I think it means that they are within their league. The other thing with Liverpool is that they can get a tad bit complacent, which explains why, 3 or 4 games before, they were leading 2 goals up but instead ended up with a draw. Okie, I've clearly digressed to talking about the League games. Anyway, a win is a win. What with Valencia winning Basel, Liverpool just might stand a good chance of proceeding to the 2nd round. 

Date: 1 Oct  2002
Comments : Liverpool has managed to take advantage of the current poor form of other top teams and earned the 2nd position in the table. But then again, the teams they played against is newly promoted West Brom. How not to win eh. Like I've always said, the real test comes in the form of bigger and difficult to win teams, like Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Leeds, Everton and maybe Spurs. We'll see how things are then and also in the Champions League games.

Date: 17 Sept 2002
Match: Valencia Vs Liverpool
Comments:
It was a horrible, horrible game by Liverpool last night. The first 40 minutes were the worst. They were playing like schoolboys, rather, they were playing more like kids at the playground. It was the worst performance they ever came up with, the worst of the worst games (okie, bad english usage, but I need to bring the point across) I have ever seen. It resulted in me switching over at times to watch the Real Madrid and Roma game. Trust me, this has got to be the most horrible game.  Everything was haywire. Liverpool were trapped in their own half for most part, or rather for almost the whole 40 minutes. Henchoz's services were clearly missed. I think Traore didn't do that good a job. Riise wasn't making those runs up the flanks like he usually does. Gerrard, Murphy, Hamann were having a quiet first half. Thinking of it, it really is a disappointing game. It made you wonder, is that Liverpool? 

Then again, what was Houllier thinking in his team selection? He actually left Owen and Baros on the bench. Even Berger and Cheyrou were benched. And the strikers he's chosen? Heskey and Diouf. Gosh. Okie, I'm so NOT a supporter of Heskey. In my mind, he's always the 3rd or maybe 4th choice striker, behind the likes of Owen, Fowler and maybe even Litmanen. But in Houllier's mind, he's the 1st or 2nd choice. I really think he's an ineffective striker. And the Senegalese? Honestly, I don't think much of them, despite glowing comments about them during the World Cup. I've always mentioned this is my page, if you do happen to be a frequent visitor here. Maybe Houllier's trying out new tactics? Trying to find the best fit of players to make the team? But it's a major competition and it isn't meant for trials. But Houllier did mention that the Premier League is the important team. So does this mean that they can slack in european games? Then again, that's what I'm thinking. 

The 2nd half was a different story. It was a revitalized Liverpool, compared to the disappointed 1st half. The Senegalese were taken off and Cheyrou and Owen were introduced. This should be done at the beginning! Valencia is indeed a good team but the 2nd half showed that Liverpool could equal them as well. They could have gotten a draw had it not been for the poor showing in the 1st half. I must say that Cheyrou played rather well, trying very hard to help Liverpool get on the scoring sheet. It wasn't Liverpool's day, a few of them missed a couple of chances in the 2nd half. Dudek did well to prevent 2 more goals, otherwise it would certainly be a score line that would read 4-0. And with about 10 minutes to go, Hamann got red-carded. It was all over for Liverpool even to salvage the situation and get a goal back.

It certainly isn't a good start to the Champions League campaign. Looks like something must be done to the team before both the European and League titles are out of sight. 

Date: 16 Sept 2002
Comments : Well, I made the comment two or three weeks ago that if Liverpool could capitalize on the draws the other top teams had, and that if they can keep that up, it would be a good thing. But I also mentioned that it's still early days. True enough. It's still really early days. For the last 3 League games, they were actually leading but threw away the lead and ended up with draws. The usually stable and hard to penetrate defence seemed to have broken into pieces, conceding 6 goals in the last three games. 

What is wrong? The frequently used excuse would be that it's a new team, with so many new faces and time is needed for the individuals to understand and work together. Could that be the reason? Maybe...... But then it's the defence that is having problems. And the defenders are made up of those who boasted of the meanest defence in the Premier League last season. So, what resulted in that change around? Maybe Houllier's trying some new tactics? Maybe the players' morale are low with so many players whom they've known for such a long time being transferring to other teams? Maybe this maybe that. 

What I do know is that if Liverpool doesn't get its act together, they can forget about the Premier League title. Forget about the European games, Houllier said his main aim is the league. Bah!  

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