Premiership Preview--2. Liverpool

For Liverpool FC, it's all about the Premiership this season. Another deep run in the Champions League would be nice, don't misunderstand, but the primary focus for Rafa Benitez and his team is the domestic league. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, the two leaders of the club, have said as much since the middle of last year. Liverpool has won the most top flight titles in English history (18) but haven't added to their total since the 1989-1990 campaign. That's not good enough, no matter how much success they have in Europe.

The Reds have taken a major step towards their ultimate goal with the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham. It's no coincidence that Keane put up his best numbers in his last two seasons in North London (45 goals combined in all competitions; he benefited from playing alongside Dimitar Berbatov, who took a lot of the defensive pressure and focus off Keane. With that said, though, Keane was a solid striker before Berbatov's arrival for the 2006-2007 season -- the Irish national team captain scored 13, 16, 17, and 16 goals, respectively, in all competitions in the four years prior to linking up with Berbatov. He goes from strength to strength anyway, because his new strike partner, Fernando Torres, is even better than his last one and so is the cast of characters behind him. Keane gives Benitez some versatility up front; he can play in the middle behind Torres in the 4-2-3-1 that worked wonders for Liverpool in the second half of last season, or he can play right next to Torres in a traditional 4-4-2.

Liverpool also added two fullbacks -- Andrea Dossena (left) and Philipp Degen (right). If today's Champions League game is any indication, and I think it is, Dossena will get the lion's share of playing time at left back, allowing Fábio Aurélio to be used off the bench at either left midfield or in the back. Degen has more of a fight on his hands for minutes, as he has to compete with both Steve Finnan, who has been at Liverpool for a while and is liked by the fans, and Alvaro Arbeloa, a favorite of Benitez.

The departures of Harry Kewell and John Arne Riise are really addition by subtraction. Neither had any future with the club and were only hamstringing the wage budget, in Kewell's case, and on-field results, in Riise's case. Peter Crouch is a very good player and will probably be successful for Portsmouth, but he wasn't given the consistent opportunities he needed to be at his most effective by Benitez. Crouch didn't fit into the system, though he was a spark off the bench late in games, so he was sold off and Liverpool made a nice profit on the tall, lanky center forward. He was replaced by David N'Gog, a talented 6'3" striker who has scored at every youth level he's played at for France. Just 19, N'Gog has a real future at Liverpool and don't be surprised if he scores some meaningful goals this season as well.

Like many of the other teams in the Premiership, Liverpool is strongest in midfield, though their defense, anchored by Carragher and Pepe Reina in goal, is also very solid. Gerrard is the club captain and heart and soul of the team. He's a natural box-to-box midfielder and probably his country's best in that role. He played behind Torres in that 4-2-3-1 I mentioned earlier and really caught fire towards the end of the season, but will likely move to the right side this year if Benitez continues to use that formation. If he reverts to a 4-4-2, Gerrard will play in the center with the tough-tackling, hard-nosed Javier Mascherano behind him. Dirk Kuyt is a workhorse on the right wing and will run and run all day, which makes up for his lack of natural talent. Ryan Babel plays opposite his fellow Dutchman, using his pace and dribbling ability to either beat opposing defenders to the endline or cutting inside and launching an effort with his lethal right foot. Neither Kuyt not Babel are natural wide players, but they get the job done. Xabi Alonso is a great passer and plays in the center, as will Lucas and, to a lesser extent, Damien Plessis. Jermaine Pennant is a decent right winger when his head is screwed on right. Yossi Benayoun is extremely versatile and can be plugged in anywhere across the midfield.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Reina

RB: Arbeloa
CB: Carragher
CB: Daniel Agger
LB: Dossena

RMF: Kuyt
*DMF: Mascherano
CMF: Gerrard (captain)
*LMF: Babel

ST: Torres
ST: Keane

*Mascherano and Babel will miss the start of the season due to their participation in the Olympics, but both are sure starters and will reclaim their places upon their returns. Lucas, too, is at the Olympics, but he's only one of a group of players that provide suitable cover in the middle. Benayoun should fill in for Babel on the left, and Alonso will do the same for Mascherano.

Liverpool's season got underway today with a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Champions League Third Qualifying Round tie against Standard Liege. The game was in Belgium, and Reina bailed Liverpool out with a penalty save in the 11th minute. Benitez would've loved to have an away goal to take back to Anfield in two weeks, obviously, but his team will still get the job done in that return leg and progress to the Group Stage.

Counting that game, four of Liverpool's next six fixtures are at home. The most intersting of those six, though, is away on the last day of August, when they'll pay a visit to Villa Park. The corresponding game last season was very exciting, and Gerrard's terrific curling free kick won it for Liverpool late, just a few minutes after Gareth Barry had converted a penalty to tie the game. Villa will be a European contender this season, so expect this rematch to be another classic.

Liverpool will play their two biggest rivals, Manchester United and Everton, in September, sandwiched around what should be an easy win at home against Stoke City. The Reds host United the week before and contest the first Merseyside derby of the season at Goodison Park to finish up the month.

A six-day span in late November and goes a day into December will be tricky, as Liverpool plays at Chelsea, hosts Portsmouth, and travels back to London to take on Tottenham. After that, though, Liverpool welcomes West Brom to Anfield (win), oes to Bolton (win), and then play Fulham and West Ham at home (both wins).

Visits from Everton and Chelsea highlight Liverpool's January slate, which also includes games at Stoke and Wigan, a feisty little team that went to Anfield and came away with a draw last season.

After playing Arsenal on April 18, by which point Arsenal's title hopes will be no more, Liverpool finishes up their season with five games that should net them 15 points if they bring their best effort -- Hull City, Newcastle, @West Ham, @West Brom, and Tottenham. Liverpool will likely need all of those games to make one last push at the title, but again, they should get them.

Bottom Line: The combination of Gerrard, Keane, and Torres is good for 50 goals. Benitez needs someone else to step up, though, and that player could turn out to be Babel. Agger's return from injury is like another impact signing; he and Carragher are as good as any center back pairing in the Premiership. Reina is great in goal. The midfield is loaded, but could use a true winger. As I said earlier, it's clear that the Premiership is Liverpool's first priority, and with a little bit of luck, this is a team that can compete for the title.

Tomorrow, then, is my preview of Manchester United, who I believe will win their third Premiership trophy in a row. I know -- surprise, surprise, right? It's not an original pick, I'm not going out and taking a risk, I understand all of that. You know what, though? Too bad.

Sour Grapes From Daniel Levy

After the gutless manner in which former manager Martin Jol was fired last October, only learning of his sacking through a text message sent to his nephew, I knew never to expect anything of significance handled with class by club chairman Daniel Levy. Levy had also repeatedly denied in public that he was going to replace Jol with Juande Ramos, and guess what, he did just that. During his tenure at White Hart Lane, Levy has developed an unflattering reputation with a significant contingent of Tottenham supporters and other higher-ups across the Premiership for relying on politics rather than doing what makes soccer sense.

Levy demonstrated his own stupidity once again in the past couple days with his comments regarding Robbie Keane's $40 million move to Liverpool. He would have the public believe that Tottenham was a helpless victim in the matter, and big, bad Liverpool bullied his club around and railroaded him into selling the Irish striker:

"I have already made my opinion clear on the nature of this transaction. I don't regard it as a transfer deal - that is something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade - this is very much an enforced sale, for which we have agreed a sum of £19 million as compensation plus a potential further £1.3 million in additional compensation."

He also effectively accused Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez of tapping-up after Benitez had praised Keane's abilities in the media, although to be fair, he didn't pursue his claims any further than that. Liverpool made a donation to Tottenham's primary charity in acknowledgement that Benitez's comments were inappropriate, but that was unnecessary.

I don't see where Levy gets off saying any of what he said. He didn't have to sell Keane, who was under contract with the North London club until 2010. He had a choice in the matter, and he agreed to the move. Tottenham are in better financial shape than Liverpool as it is, so Spurs didn't exactly need the money. Liverpool didn't force Levy into anything. How can he not call it a "transfer deal", which, according to his own words, has to be agreed upon, when clearly it was. If it wasn't, Keane wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere.

To say that a potential $40.6 million is just "compensation" is insulting to those who work far harder than Levy for exponentially smaller salaries. It also implies that Keane was stolen from Tottenham without consent, and Liverpool just threw some money out of the rear window while escaping with the player to make everything better.

As for his comments aimed at Benitez, give me a break. What exactly is the definition of tapping-up? Robbie Keane is many things, some positive and some negative, but ignorant isn't one of them. He knows other clubs would love to benefit from his services. The guy is good for at least 15 goals per season, so of course he's in demand. His agent, Struan Marshall, also represents Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, and Keane is good friends with both of the Liverpool stalwarts, who surely talked to Keane about coming to Anfield at some point or another. Keane supported Liverpool as a boy like many other Irishmen, and it was his lifelong dream to play for the club.

Levy is nothing more than a spoiled sore loser who whines and moans when he doesn't get his way. As he showed during the Jol situation and now with Keane, Levy is as fickle as they come. He possesses the wrong personal traits to succeed as an executive in professional sports, and Tottenham's accomplishments over the last three seasons (Carling Cup, two 5th-place finishes, and appearances in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 and Quarterfinals) have come in spite of him, not because of him.

Benitez Is Right To Rotate Lineup

Despite former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock’s furious claims to the contrary last season and more whining this week, Rafa Benitez has every right to rotate his squad for a game against a relegation-threatened team.

This issue has come up in recent days because Liverpool will make the trip to St. Andrew’s and play 18th place Birmingham City tomorrow. The Reds are in the middle of their Champions League semifinal tie against Chelsea, and they’ll need to be as close to full-strength as possible heading into next Wednesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool has to score there, something that has literally been impossible under Benitez’s tenure, to advance to their third CL final in four years.

Mathematically, Liverpool needs three points in their final three Premiership games to clinch 4th spot and the last Champions League berth that comes with it. Realistically, though, they already have a stranglehold on it and could probably not even earn another point for the rest of the season and still be ok.

Benitez sent out a second-string lineup at Craven Cottage and still managed to dominate a desperate Fulham team, coming out of West London with a 2-0 victory. The term “second-string” is relative, though, because Liverpool’s backups are still good enough to start for the majority of teams in the league.

This is part of the reason I don’t want to hear guys like Neil Warnock and more recently, Steve Bruce, slam Benitez for resting his stars. It’s not just Warnock and Bruce either; Benitez has had his share of critics in the media for what he’s going to do.

“It undermines the competition and integrity of the game”, they’ll say, or “It gives other teams unfair advantages”. You know what I’m talking about, the typical moaning and groaning from people with a vested interest while trying to make it sound like they have the game’s best intentions at heart.

Let me tell you something right now. That’s rubbish. It just is. It’s BS of the highest order.

Rafa Benitez doesn’t owe anyone other than Liverpool FC anything. It’s that simple. As the manager of that club, he is responsible for their best interests, whatever they may be. He is entitled to do whatever he needs to do, as long as it’s legal, obviously, to make sure that those goals are met. He doesn’t owe Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock anything. He doesn’t owe the Premier League and sentiment anything.

Benitez can play whoever he wants against Birmingham. There is strong talk that the only regular player Benitez will put out there is Jamie Carragher, and even that is no guarantee as far as from what I can tell. It seems like a fair bet that Gerrard, Torres, Alonso, Reina, Babel, Riise, Kuyt, and Mascherano all won’t play, or at least won’t start. Relatively inexperienced players like Charles Itanjie, Emiliano Insua, and Damien Plessis could all get a run-out.

You know what? Good for them. Liverpool has to come up with the goods next Wednesday, and it makes no sense for Benitez to risk his best players in a meaningless game, at least from Liverpool’s point of view. Birmingham needs points and will come out playing a physical, in-your-face style, and Benitez can’t afford for any of his players to get injured.

To his credit, Bolton boss Gary Megson has come out and said that he doesn’t care who Benitez plays against Birmingham. Bolton is in the thick of the relegation fight, and it would be understandable if Megson lashed out and urged Benitez to pick his strongest team.

Instead, he believes that “Rafa Benitez has to do what is best for Liverpool and we all have to do what is best for our own teams…The fact Liverpool can rest players and still put out that kind of side just shows the size of the squad and quality they have got.”

I applaud Megson for saying this, and he’s got it right. He also told Sky Sports News that “Rafa’s team and his selection is nothing to do with me or indeed anybody else other than Rafa and Liverpool”.

Spot-on, Mr. Megson. Spot on.

Liverpool Advances to CL Quarterfinals; New College Basketball Podcast

As sure as the sun will rise and set every day, a Rafa Benitez-coached team will not give up a 2-0 lead in a Champions League tie. I've criticized Benitez's tactics in the Premier League on many occasions and will continue to do so when the situation calls for it in the future, but this man simply is built for two-legged ties and knows exactly how to get the job done in Europe.

I never once got the feeling today that Liverpool were in danger of losing to Inter Milan, even though Milan had their fair share of near-misses. Once Fernando Torres scored midway through the second half, the tie was, for all intents and purposes, over. Torres has been the best striker in the Premier League this season and without him, I'm not sure where Liverpool would be.

As far as I'm concerned, the Reds are England's best chance to win the Champions League this season; they may not be a better team than Manchester United, Arsenal, or even Chelsea, but as far as in Europe, they have the best manager in Benitez and a team full of players who have a lot of Champions League experience and the same can't be said about those other three teams.

On an unrelated note, I was asked by my good friend Kartik to come on to his Canes Rising podcast again and talk about the college basketball landscape heading into Championship Week and Selection Sunday. We'll be recording tonight and the finished product should be ready for your listening pleasure within the next couple of days, and trust me, if you're a fan of the ACC, you'll want to listen.

Changes Must be Made at Liverpool

If you had just walked into the room and didn’t know the score of today’s game between Aston Villa and Liverpool and saw the way Peter Crouch wheeled off to the corner after scoring an 88th minute goal, you’d probably think that he just won the Premier League for the Reds. In reality, the 6′7″ striker simply levelled the game for Liverpool at 2-2.

This, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with Liverpool right now. The players and fans are satisfied with draws when they should win and losses when they should pick up a point. I’m not seeing any killer instinct from this team; they play the exact same way in the 17th minute that they do in the 81st minute, and quite frankly, that’s an uninspired style of soccer.

Rafael Benitez is–and here’s that word again–one of the most uninspiring, boring managers on the face of the earth. Every time the camera pans to him on the sideline, he’s bringing his arms closer together and screaming the word “compact” at his players. Hmm, compact. Compact like Steven Gerrard going out to play right back or left wing like he did today? No, I think not. That’s how you know something has to change. I think Rafa has lost the team in many respects. Liverpool’s fans will tell you that it was Rafa who won the Champions League for them in Istanbul a couple seasons ago, but they’re wrong. It was Steven Gerrard who led Liverpool to their fifth European Cup (…”18 leagues, that’s what we call history”…you’re right, it is HISTORY, it certainly isn’t the present) by putting the team on his back and carrying them to that historical comeback.

Say what you want about Liverpool’s American owners, say that they’re a huge distraction and that they don’t have the club’s best interests at heart, whatever. Here’s the reality of the situation. The owners have NOTHING to do with what happens on the field. Last time I checked, and I can go back and watch the game again, but Mr. Hicks and Mr. Gillett weren’t playing for Liverpool when they drew with Wigan at home, drew with Birmingham at home, drew with Spurs at home, and lost at Reading. Notice a theme here? A championship-caliber team like Liverpool and their fans claim themselves to be don’t draw in those type of games and they certainly don’t lose. I could care less what you have to say about the owners as it relates to Liverpool FC on the field because these are professional players, they get paid very handsomely to play a GAME, to play 90 minutes. When they’re between the touchlines, they don’t have the club’s owners in their minds; the only thing they’re thinking about is the game itself.

The owners aren’t going to leave even though that’s what most of the fans want (they want DIC apparently, good for them). Fans in England and across Europe don’t seem to understand the concept that owners don’t actually have to support their club. That’s not to say that the owners don’t want what’s best for the club, but the club isn’t like a childhood team that they rooted for; the club is a business enterprise in which they can make money, nothing more. Things aren’t like they used to be in your parents’ generation when clubs truly cared about their fans and the owners and chairmen were diehard supporters.

There’s something in the Red section of Merseyside when a draw at home against Aston Villa is considered to be a good result. Don’t get me wrong, Aston Villa are an impressive young side but a team as good as Liverpool say they are would win that game. Manchester United throttled Villa 4-1 earlier in the season. Liverpool simply aren’t good enough this year, that’s just a fact. It’s no anomaly that after 22 games, more than halfway through the season, that teams are where they are in the standings. Liverpool are the 5th best team in the Premier League but when you look at the actual talent on the roster, they should be no worse than 4th and possibly even 3rd.

This is why I believe Rafa has to go and I can’t put it any simpler than that. Liverpool have enough talent and capability to be so much better than they have been this year, and I put that squarely on Rafa’s shoulders. When a manager can’t blend a roster and shape it in a style that allows for the most possible success, he isn’t doing his job. I don’t believe for a second that the players enjoy playing for him because he’s one of the least friendly, distant managers I’ve ever seen. There’s a reason you hear Aston Villa’s players come out publicly and sing the praises of Martin O’Neill and that’s because they like playing for him; O’Neill takes the time to forge a relationship with his players beyond the soccer field and they respect that, whereas I’ve never once seen a Liverpool player back Benitez in that same fashion. There’s a reason you hear players at Manchester United talk about what a joy it is to play for Sir Alex Ferguson and players at Portsmouth do the same about Harry Redknapp, but you don’t hear Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard talk about Rafa in such a positive light.

If you’re a Liverpool fan, take a step back from the Rafalogy cult you’ve subscribed to and look at the situation your club is in. In a season that held high hopes and one in which Benitez stated that the Premiership title was his main goal, you’re in 5th place, 14 points behind Manchester United. You’ve crashed out of the Carling Cup and have been fortunate to draw the teams you’ve drawn in the FA Cup. You’ve got a tie against the second most impressive team in Europe this season in Inter Milan in the Champions League coming up and I’m not you’ll come out of that and advance. You’ve got a captain and center midfielder in Steven Gerrard who clearly, clearly isn’t buying into the system Rafa wants to employ.

Someone has to go, changes have to be made. It’s not going to be the owners and it’s not going to be Steven Gerrard, which means Rafa’s head is on the chopping block and the switch could be pressed at any moment.

Something has to be done, what’s it going to be?

Liverpool's Woes Continue

If you didn't watch the game yesterday and only saw the 0-0 full-time scoreline between Liverpool and Blackburn, you would most likely credit Liverpool for going on the road and getting a point against one of the up-and-coming teams in the Premiership. Yes, it was a game that if Liverpool truly believed themselves to be title contenders, they should've grinded out a victory and taken full points, but there's nothing wrong with earning a draw away from home.

However for those of us who watched the game, you have to question (once again) manager Rafael Benitez's tactics and squad selection. He gave Dirk Kuyt the start again even though it's been forever and a day since Kuyt scored from anything other a PK in the Premiership and left Peter Crouch on the bench until the 71st minute. He started both Sissoko and Mascherano instead of going with a more attacking mindset (Kewell on the right wing, Benayoun and Gerrard in the center, Babel up top with Crouch, Riise at left wing instead of left back, and Aurelio at left back). Sissoko and Mascherano are good players in their own right, quality holding midfielders, but Benitez had to know that Blackburn was going to park the bus and he needed more creativity and skill than those two provide in the midfield. Kewell wasn't fit to play the whole game and neither was Aurelio, but starting them and playing them for 60 minutes probably would've given Liverpool a lead and then they could've been subbed out for a more defensive-minded formation.

When Crouch finally entered the fray, he linked up multiple times with captain Steven Gerrard for Liverpool's most dangerous chances of the day. Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel was up to the task though, and the game ended 0-0. This isn't the first time Crouch has been brought on late and still made a contribution; he did the same against Besiktas in the Champions League last week. Dirk Kuyt is completely off-form right now. He can't hit the broad side of a barn with his shots, his finishing is awful, and he doesn't give you any speed or aerial ability at all. I guarantee that the next Premiership game Crouch starts, and not Kuyt, will be won by Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher to Remain at Liverpool

This story is several days old but I hadn't gotten a chance to update the site, so here we go.

In a piece of news that is sure to excite the hearts of the Liverpool fans on Merseyside, versatile midfielder Steven Gerrard (the captain) and center back Jamie Carragher (the vice-captain) have signed contracts keeping them with the Reds through 2011. The two players have spent their entire professional careers at Anfield and their deals pretty much ensure that they will play the most productive years left in their career with their hometown team.

Gerrard is easily Liverpool's most talented player and is a centerpiece that a team can be built around. He is capable of playing anywhere in the midfield and was even used as an outside back early in his career by former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier. He's made 268 appearances with the club and scored 44 goals, though his contributions are far more wide-ranging than just the tangibles.

Carragher is a solid center back who's made 473 appearances with Liverpool since joining the club in 1996. Rafael Benitez knows exactly what he'll get every time he writes Carragher into the starting lineup and that kind of consistency is essential for a successful center back. Carragher has been a fringe player as far as making the England national team goes and obviously his growth potential as a player has peaked. Other than when making the occasional appearance for his country, Liverpool fans expect to see Carragher play his best and hold a back line, which possesses the talented young Dane Daniel Agger, together.

These two signings are very important for the new American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette and should help usher Liverpool into their new stadium near the end of this decade.

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