There has been a lot of discussion recently over the individual merits of Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney. Both have had great starts to the new season, and both are vitally important to their respective clubs...but who is the better player? It's a tough question to answer objectively, but the following in-depth, objective analysis shows quite clearly that Torres is the more consistently effective performer. Click to continue reading...

Just when it looked like Philipp Degen might actually be injury free for once, something else has (inevitably) popped up to derail his progress. As a result, it seems that the Swiss defender may be back on the sidelines. Again.
Degen started the recent reserve game against Manchester City, but played just 45 minutes before having to be replaced because he was ‘feeling ill'
Ill? Click to continue reading...

Earlier in the week, former Chelsea player Tony Cascarino slated Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel in the harshest terms possible. Is he right or wrong with his criticisms?
Cascarino told the Times: "Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabiano Aurelio, Martin Skrtel... Click to continue reading...

One of the highlights of last season was Liverpool's briliant double over Chelsea. Despite the club's poor overall record at Stamford Bridge - and a frustrating inability to beat the better teams so far this season - today's game is eminently winnable...but only if the formation and tactics are right, and that means aces in their place. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's depressing defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge could have (and should have) been avoided, but as is so often the case, Rafa Benitez's decisions conspired to adversely affect Liverpool yet again.
The most galling thing about the defeat is that the game was definitely winnable. Click to continue reading...

Played 11 - Lost 4. It doesn't make for pleasant reading, does it? This is not the first time Liverpool have had such a poor start to the season, and while it is definitely too early to write off the club's title chances, history proves that when the team starts this badly, the season is usually a washout. Click to continue reading...

...Henrik Larsson or Gabriel Batitstuta. This is the view of former Scotland manager Craig Brown, who believes that Torres still has some way to go before matching those two players. What do you think?
In a recent interview with The Independent, Brown was asked whether Torres was the best striker in the world right now. Click to continue reading...

George Gillett's recent comments have caused quite a stir amongst Liverpool fans, with the media jumping on the bandwagon, gleefully trying to resurrect the ‘Rafa vs. the Owners' spat. There is one thing, however, that I believe many fans are missing about this situation...
The basic crux of the (predictable) media response to the comments has been "Gillett blames Benitez for poor performance' and "Gillett reignites public feud with Benitez". Click to continue reading...

George Gillett's interview with a member of ‘Spirit of Shankly' has been the hot topic of debate this week, but did the alleged interview even take place? I'm not convinced.
Having re-read the transcript a couple of times and considered the context, I have now come to the conclusion that this ‘interview' with George Gillett is either:
a) Completely false
b) Cobbled together from other interviews/statements
I retract points A and B above from the list of possibilities. Click to continue reading...

The FourFourTwo.com Football Rich List 2009 has just been released, and I'm curious – why does anyone care which footballers earn the most money?!
So David Beckham earns X and Steven Gerrard is worth Y; why is this news? Why do we care? Why is this such a big deal?
Fans seem to lap up this kind of info and often seem impressed by it even though this outrageous, undeserved wealth is basically being rubbed in their faces. Click to continue reading...

It has been revealed that Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez has been charged by the woefully out-of-touch FA for blatantly inoffensive glasses joke after the Spurs game at White Hart Lane in August. I didn't think it was possible for the FA to become any more pedantic and pointless that it already is, but I was wrong. Click to continue reading...

OPTA's latest statistics have revealed some surprising facts about the effectiveness of two of Liverpool's key midfielders.
According to OPTA, Javier Mascherano is the top passer in the Premiership this season, with 547 completed passes and an accuracy rate of 87%. Chelsea's Michael Essien has the same accuracy rate but has completed a lot less passes. Click to continue reading...

I believe that Spirit of Shankly's ‘Yank Liars Out! approach to ousting the owners is unprofessional, undignified, and lacking in all credibility. What do you think?
Spirit of Shankly is made up of a miniscule minority of Liverpool fans yet, amazingly, they purport to represent ALL Liverpool fans. Click to continue reading...

In this new series, I'll be looking back at some of Liverpool's FC's most demoralizing football moments - incidents and games that left fans in a state of shock for weeks – and sometimes months – afterwards. I'll start off with an infamous game from January 1999 that sent Gerard Houllier's team into freefall and arguably ended the club's season: The soul-destroying FA Cup 4th round defeat to Manchester United. Click to continue reading...

After trying his best to engineer a move away from Anfield in the summer, rumours are flying again that Javier Mascherano wants to leave Liverpool. So where's the problem? Why can't Liverpool just let him leave?! There seems to be this idea that Mascherano is somehow integral to Liverpool's success, but I disagree. Click to continue reading...

After Liverpool's opening day defeat to Spurs, Rafa Benitez shocked the football world with a tasteless, highly offensive gag at the expense of referee Phil Dowd. Football fans, players and managers around the world were outraged by Benitez's heinous conduct, which according to the FA, plunged football into a ‘state of almost irreparable disrepute'. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool FC has been blessed with dozens of talented footballers over the years, many of whom came from abroad to dazzle Anfield with sublime skills and superb technique. But who makes the best ever World XI?
The history of overseas footballers at Liverpool starts way back in the mid 1920s, with arrival of two South African players: Arthur Riley in 1925 and Gordon Hodgson in 1926. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool fans should hopefully see Alberto Aquilani in a red shirt for the first time at the end of this month, but where will the Italian fit into the team and will he be used effectively?
With three defeats in 8 premiership games already, the pressure is on for Liverpool to start producing premiership winning performances on a more consistent basis. Click to continue reading...

Many superb Scottish players have turned out for Liverpool over the years, making a considerable contribution to the club's success. But who makes the best ever XI?
Here is my all time Scottish XI:
Manager: Bill Shankly
----------------------- Tommy Lawrence
Steve Nicol --- Alan Hansen --- Ron Yeats --- Bill Dunlop
Willie Stevenson - Graeme Souness(c) - Peter Cormack - Billy Liddell
------------------- Kenny Dalglish
----------------------------- Ian St John
Substitutes
Bert Slater (GK)
Willie Fagan
Gary McAllister
Donald McKinlay
Jimmy McDougall
Total appearances combined: 10,705
Total goals combined: 1396
----
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Steven Gerrard and/or Fernando Torres may not be fit for this weekend's game against Sunderland. Panic stations, right? Wrong. Whilst the media love to spin the myth that Liverpool is a 'two-man team' history proves otherwise, and in my view, Liverpool fans have nothing to worry about.
LIVERPOOL WITHOUT GERRARD
Liverpool do just fine without Gerrard in the side, and history proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Click to continue reading...

Albert Riera has become the latest victim of Rafa Benitez's regrettable habit of dropping players after they score goals. How long is this damaging trend going to continue?
After being stuck on the bench for most of the season, Riera started the 6-1 thrashing of Hull and had a fantastic game. Click to continue reading...

In November 2008, Jamie Carragher made history by breaking a Liverpool FC record set by Ron Yeats in 1969. Normally, this would be a reason to celebrate, but not in Carra's case - breaking the record has now made him the club's unluckiest player ever.
I am, of course, talking about own goals! Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's exciting young striker Krisztián Németh has scored his first two goals for AEK Athens.
Goal v Giannina – 20 September 2009 (0:43)
Goal v Olympiakos – 23 September 2009 (0:22)
That's two goals and one assist in four appearances for AEK. Click to continue reading...

As great as it is to see Liverpool embracing an attacking philosophy and scoring lots of goals in the league, the team has still been unable to win against anything other than comparatively inferior opposition. And with Chelsea coming up on Sunday, this does not bode well at all.
Here is a list of teams Liverpool has played so far:
Tottenham
Stoke
Aston Villa
Bolton
Burnley
Debrecen
West Ham
Leeds United
Hull City
Fiorentina
What do all the beaten teams (in bold) have in common? Click to continue reading...

A prospectus published in March 2009 suggests that Liverpool's net summer spending will be fixed at £20m a season until 2014. Is this enough money for Rafa Benitez to effectively compete in the transfer market?
The prospectus also revealed:
* The £20m figure would also include wage increases arising from contract renewals. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool need to bounce back from the Fiorentina defeat with a solid performance against Chelsea, and whilst it would be a fantastic achievement to win at Stamford Bridge, the club's abject record there means it's (arguably) almost a statistical impossibility.
Let's just look at the cold hard facts:
All time competitive games at Stamford Bridge (Since 1907)*

Played - 76
Won - 17
Drawn - 17
Lost – 42

Failure to win in 77% of competitive games. Click to continue reading...

What is it about Liverpool FC and its cocky, self-congratulatory overconfidence whenever the team goes on a good run? The last few weeks has been filled with tedious eulogising in the press, but just like previous seasons, it has all come crashing down; and with the defeat to Fiorentina, Liverpool players once again look stupid after weeks of massaging each others' egos. Click to continue reading...

The net is awash with 'rumours' that Liverpool are to mount a - wait for it - €49m bid for Valencia striker David Villa. This absurd story is clearly nonsense, but what's funny about it is how many Liverpool/football sites have jumped on the bandwagon and reported it.
The probably origin of this 'story' was the 'The Daily Mail', who published a typically unfounded, sourceless article on the 21 September titled: 'Manchester United and Liverpool put on alert as David Villa hits out at Valencia boss'. Click to continue reading...

Many great strikers have scored hat-tricks for Liverpool down the years but which player has achieved the incredible feat of 17 hat-tricks in nine full seasons?
Between 1926 and 1936, South African striker Gordon Hodgson scored an incredible 17 hat-tricks for Liverpool, including a stunning 4 hat-tricks in a single season (1930-1931). Click to continue reading...

The Daily Mail is 'reporting' that Rafa Benitez is interested in signing Chelsea defender Alex next summer. After its lies about Glen Johnson's alleged salary, it is clear upon reading the 'story' that the Mail is making things up once again.
Here is the bulk of the story:
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is ready make a shock move for Chelsea defender Alex as he bids to boost his defensive options at Anfield. Click to continue reading...

Over the last few seasons, Liverpool's ability to consistently challenge for the title has been undone by a variety of different things, with one issue in particular becoming a major recurring problem. Not this season though! Things appear to be changing and he curse may have finally been lifted (touch wood! Click to continue reading...

If Wayne Rooney dived in the world cup final and was awarded a penalty that led directly to England winning the world, would he be targeted and denigrated by the press and fans the next day, just like Eduardo was after the Celtic game? Arsene Wenger doesn't think so, and I think he's right.
In a recent interview, Wenger said:
"England are in the World Cup and if Rooney does that [Dives] in the last minute of the game and England win the World Cup, do you really think Rooney will be slaughtered the next day? Click to continue reading...

Since 1990, many things have conspired to rob Liverpool of the league title, but one thing in particular has brought with it extraordinary bad luck. Liverpool fans should rejoice though as it looks like this long-running jinx could be lifted very soon.
I am, of course, referring to Liverpool's sponsorship deal with Carling, which is reportedly set to end in mid-2010. Click to continue reading...

Another 4 goals at Anfield as Liverpool cruise to a easy win over Burnley.
It was a great victory but let's not get carried away - Liverpool should be beating the likes of Burnley 4-0 at home. This game was a 'must-win' in my game-by-game road to the title article, which I posted last week. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness was tough-tackling monster of a player who combined prodigious talent with a ferocity that made him feared by the opposition. It seems that this mean-streak continued into his managerial career, with one of his own players on the receiving end of a deadly Souness special. Click to continue reading...