When you listen to Rodolfo Borrell or Mike Marsh talk after a defeat, you can feel their annoyance
at the result. They might try to be diplomatic in what they're saying but their tone of voice and
body language betrays their true feelings.
It might seem petty but the coaches' reaction is, in truth, more than justified.
Winning; a seemingly unassuming word tasked with describing somethingthat is seen as being
fundamental in a human being's life. Each day we are asked to win, to wake up whenwe want to give
in to sleep, to beat the competition, to fight the urge to eat ordrink excessively. Win, win, win.
First off, a confession: I don't like biographies. In particular, I don't like player biographies.
Too often they're pretentious, ego-massaging,bank account boosting exercises in self-promotion that
offer little in the way of genuine insight. Unless, of course, you consider tales of lads' nights
out or those of puerile banter as falling under the category of insightful.
January, the start of a new year, is often seen as a month of hope. Resolutions made as the
previous year came to an end are still fresh in the mind as is the belief that they will be
maintained. That similar resolutions were made (but not kept) before doesn't matter. This time
round will be different, this time round I will make it.
It only takes one bad touch for the criticism to start. You know that it's coming as soon as Andy
Carroll misplaces a pass or fails to control a ball; the comments that he's not worth the money
spent on him, how he's a big mistake, that he's too lazy to try and make it work.
You can even sense some wanting him to fail so that they can tell everyone that they told you so.
It is an unfortunate reality of the game of football, one which dictates that an injury to one
player means an opportunity for another. So it will be for Jay Spearing who seems to be the player
within Liverpool's squad who can best replicate the job that Lucas Leiva carried out and which
someone else will now have to do in the Brazilian's injury forced absence.
Back in the nineties teams would travel to Anfield with one plan in mind: that of stopping Steve
McManaman. The thinking was that if they managed this then they were well on their way to getting
something out of the game. It wasn't a tactic that worked as much as its reputation suggested yet
it worked often enough for it to continue being used.
No games won and no points on the table, this has been a dismal start to the season for Liverpool's
reserves team. Or, rather, that would be conclusion if you fail to look at the most significant
column, that for games played, the one that shows that this week's defeat at Newcastle was only
their second game of the season.
A year after becoming the heroes who saved Liverpool from financial armageddon, Fenway Sports Group
opted to to become the villains of the day. Not necessarily in the eyes of Liverpool fans but
certainly in those of the rest of the football world.
Sooner or later, one of the big clubs was going to start making noises about the splitting of
television rights.
Despiteachieving an unprecedented treble in his first season in charge, Joe Faganremains something
of a marginalised figure in Liverpool's history. For many his success was down to the team
heinherited from Bob Paisley whereas his work in the backroom staff is oftenoverlooked.
A much moretruthful picture of Fagan's role both as a coach and as a manager is presentedby the
recent biography titled Joe Fagan: A Reluctant Champion.
Book Review: Joe Fagan - Reluctant Champion by Andrew Fagan and Mark Platt
There are two iconic images that seem to perfectly sum up Joe Fagan's time as Liverpool manager.
The first has him lounging by a pool in front of two Italian carabinieri and the Champions Cup, won
the night before, besides him.
When Paul Konchesky was sold to Leicester City earlier this summer, one of the strangest and most
stressful periods of the past two decades in Liverpool's history came to a close. Seen as the
embodiment of the mediocrity that had somehow become the norm at the club, Konchesky's departure
was deemed as confirmation that the standards that had been allowed to drop were now being pushed
upwards again.
When Paul Konchesky was sold to Leicester City earlier this summer, one of the strangest and most
stressful periods of the past two decades in Liverpool's history came to a close. Seen as the
embodiment of the mediocrity that had somehow become the norm at the club, Konchesky's departure
was deemed as confirmation that the standards that had been allowed to drop were now being pushed
upwards again.
He might not appreciate it much as he starts looking for a new job but Sergio Batista's dismal
failure as Argentina coach at the Copa America delivered a very important message.
In the run up to the competition, Batista had expressed his intention to impose Barcelona's
tactical approach on his side.
Having talented players progress till they're good enough to play regular top level Premiership
football is still an art that very few - if any - have perfected. The traditional route of letting
them develop in the reserves no longer seems to apply given the dilution of quality in this league
whilst the more recent solution of having the players go out on loan is a bit hit and miss.
