There was hope. Hope in Dalglish's return. Hope in Suarez' arrival. Hope in the introduction of a more pleasing brand of football. And then, in a moment, it seemed to have all been ripped away.

People talked about the club being bigger than any one player, and they rationalised that things would be alright given that that particular player hadn't really made much of a contribution to any kind of success over the previous eighteen months.

Before we take a look at tomorrow's friendly against Spain, it's worth a quick review of tonight's playoffs for the last four places in Euro 2012.

The first thing that jumps out is the quality of the teams in the playoffs. Since Euro '96 Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey have all reached the knockout stages of at least one of the subsequent competitions with Portugal reaching the final in 2004.

For those who came second in their Euro 2012 qualifying group, the play-off's await. Nicholas Spiller picks out a potentially thrilling match between Portugal and Bosnia taking place this Friday (11/11/11)...spooky! The two locking horns in the World Cup 2012 Play-offs Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Stoke City have enjoyed a promising start to the season and it is clear that despite the increasing number of matches they have been playing due to Europa League involvement, Tony Pulis' men can cope with the challenging demands.

One of the reasons why the Potters have been so impressive is a strong defense, anchored in the Premier League by Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has been able to focus exclusively on the domestic front due to the presence of veteran Thomas Sorensen in the squad.

Following the Manchester massacres, Spurs finally got their season up and running with an excellent win away at Wolves.
After soaking up the pressure in the first half, we took the lead through the debutant Emanuel Adebayor, before Jermain Defoe made sure of the points. It was refreshing to see two Spurs strikers playing together and both getting on the score sheet, while in midfield Scott Parker impressed alongside transfer victim Luka Modric.

Squad sheets: Stoke City v Liverpool

There is a buoyancy to both of these teams given their undefeated starts to the season, and with the respective managers having also acquired a host of fresh recruits prior to the close of the transfer window it feels likely this fixture will be characterised by a sense of adventure and renewed excitement.

Chelsea became the third member of the traditional "Big Four" to drop points on opening weekend as they could only muster a 0-0 draw against Stoke this afternoon. Andre Villas-Boas will be disappointed with his side's lack of a cutting edge, but Stoke boss Tony Pulis will be pleased with his side's resilience.

Andre Villas- Boas GQ style and football IQ did not impress Stoke

One of the most anticipated coaching debut's this season ended on a disappointing note as Andre Villas- Boas a one time Mourinho protege could not get his side to crack open Stoke's doughty defense.

Chelsea began with Fernando Torres declared match fit after surviving a concussion scare in the match against Italy but despite the striker looking lively, he and Salomon Kalou were unable to finish.