Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield yesterday felt like a defeat. Liverpool were the better team for the ninety minutes, created more chances, had more of the ball, actually played to win – but lost.

Referee Rob Styles failed to handle the game. Obviously whenever a referee awards a penalty in a game he’s going to get some stick from some fans – but when someone like Andy Gray is actually taking sides for Liverpool in such a situation you really can tell the referee got it wrong.

Often in football we hear a referee being referred to as a “homer”. Fans often claim that’s how refs work when they officiate at big grounds like Anfield and Old Trafford – any cry of “handball” or “offside” from the home fans actually influences the referee to give the decision to the home side. But that’s not seen as much these days. Nowadays we seem to have referees who over-compensate and actually give the benefit of any doubt to the away side.

However it seems that Rob Styles is a different type of referee again. At Old Trafford last week he sent a Reading player off who’d been on the field for something like seven seconds. Still adjusting to the pace of the first game of the season, his first attempt at winning the ball was an attempted block against United’s Evra. Evra quickly got rid of the ball, the Reading player accidentally caught Evra. It wasn’t two-footed, it wasn’t high, it was a genuine attempt to play the ball. Styles just reached for his red card and sent the player off. Up until that time Reading had been holding on for a draw but were capable of actually causing an upset and getting a breakaway goal, like Manchester City did yesterday. Styles brought the chances of that happening to an end, and probably helped Chelsea too in the process, because those tired Reading players had to face Chelsea a few days later. Chelsea won that match.

Before anyone reads suggestions that aren’t here, I don’t believe Styles is being paid by Chelsea to help them, I don’t believe he’s a secret Chelsea fan, I don’t believe his assistance to Chelsea is due to anything more than the fact that he’s not capable of refereeing Premier League matches. He seems happy to hit the headlines, and fails the test of any good referee in that he’s actually noticeable.

In yesterday’s game he was unbelievably inconsistent. Forget the penalty he awarded to Chelsea’s new Arjen Robben, Florent Malouda, who threw himself at Steve Finnan. He was just yards away from the incident; he knew Malouda had jumped from outside the area to collide with Finnan who was inside the area. He didn’t consult his assistant (I don’t think he ever does), he just awarded the penalty. He allowed persistent fouling from some players to go unpunished; he booked others at the first sign of trouble. Jermaine Pennant and Jamie Carragher got booked for dissent – John Terry touched foreheads with Fernando Torres and got a telling-off. He did book Essien for dissent – but then realised he’d already booked Essien so pretended he hadn’t actually made that second booking.

Just before half-time he saw Mikel Obi jump on the ankle of Fernando Torres. Torres needed treatment and struggled in the second half as a result. Styles saw it because he stopped play to allow Torres to get the treatment. Obi wasn’t punished at all for it.

Sky wanted to speak to him after the game. He refused. He knew he’d performed poorly.

Obviously a referee will make mistakes in every game. It’s part and parcel of the game. The players make mistakes too – any fan can look back at defeats or dropped points and point to one of their own players who caused the problem. A striker missing a sitter, a defender giving away a needless penalty, a German keeper making yet another clanger. When that happens the fans are unhappy but feel it’s something that can be fixed. Drop the player in question, or accept the player in question does far more good than he did bad with that one mistake. But at least your manager can sort it out the way he sees fit. There are also those games where a wonder goal loses you the points – again the supporters accept this, as disappointing as it may be, and in some cases with some clubs that wonder goalscorer may be joining your club next transfer window. But when a ref messes up – it’s an awful feeling of injustice.

It’s time that referees were given help. Technology could be brought in for incidents like yesterday’s penalty. If the referee has any feeling it may have been a penalty he should stop the game, get it checked by a video official, then the game restarts. It won’t work straight away, but given time and a fair trial it will work sooner or later. Red cards can be included in the list of incidents that are checked before being finally being decided. In incidents of diving a retrospective ban should be applied to a player found guilty. Timekeeping is another issue which often causes controversy – there is no consistency at all in the game where timekeeping is concerned, maybe it’s time that a separate official took care of that.

Despite all of this, Liverpool learned a valuable lesson yesterday. At least I hope they did. The lesson is that some days you really are up against 11 opponents and the referee. Some days the referee really does seem to have a vendetta against you, or the idea that any 50-50 decisions should go against you. On those days you need to be able to fight back, keep plugging away and make sure the referee can’t continue to ruin your day. Liverpool’s spirits clearly dropped yesterday after that award, and although they did keep plugging away, against an opponent who clearly wanted to escape with that one point, they didn’t have as much fight as they’d had before. Also a one-nil lead isn’t enough; you need to make it a wider gap as quickly as possible.

Liverpool’s next league game is away to Sunderland. It’s the kind of game that Liverpool would drop points in last season, and with former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane as Sunderland boss there’s perhaps more of an edge than there otherwise would be. Liverpool are capable of beating Sunderland by quite some margin, but they’re hurting after their defeat on Saturday. Following that game is the Toulouse Champions League qualifier second leg, arguably the most important game of this half of the season. Liverpool’s away goal is good, but not enough to relax and again Liverpool need to be ready to fight hard to win through the Champions League itself.

And we need to be ready to fight against eleven opponents and the officials, because the game will always have its bad referees, unless we introduce technology.

A quick look at the internet versions of today’s papers confirmed to me that there was no point whatsoever in going out and paying for them. Sunday’s papers always seem to bring out the worst in the journalists in this country, I really don’t see why. Liverpool aren’t the only victims of the clamour to make the big news that will be spoken about all week. If there’s nothing true to sensationalise then it’s just made up.

The Mirror had a go at us on Friday through their interview with the cowardly traitor off the Liverpool board, their sister papers are determined to join in today.
Take the People. Well, don’t take the People, because if this is an example of the standard of their product then it’s really not worth paying for. They have a story today, by a Mr Bates, saying that Gerrard is off to Madrid. Well, they say Madrid want him. They want him so much that they let it slip to a tacky Sunday paper in the UK before they told their own contacts in their own press:

People.co.uk - MAD FOR HIM
EXCLUSIVE SPANISH GIANTS TARGET GERRARD Real plot £32Mraid
By Steve Bates

STEVEN GERRARD will find a £32million European bolt-hole at Real Madrid this summer if his fragile relationship with Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez reaches breaking point.

That was the word emerging from Spain last night with Madrid ready to part company with one English legend - David Beckham - and welcome another in Gerrard next summer.

I understand Madrid chief Fabio Capello is a huge fan of Gerrard and the Spanish giants are reported to be willing to pay the £32m it would cost topers uade Liverpool to part with the Kop king. Gerrard revealed after the disappointment of the World Cup how he hoped Liverpool would finally end 16 years of misery by lifting the Premiership title for the first time since 1990 this season.

But after a poor start they are in turmoil with dissent in the boardroom being compounded by fan anger and frustration to give Benitez his first full-blown crisis since taking over from Gerrard Houllier.

“Fan anger and frustration”? People were fed up I’ll grant you that after last weekend’s victory, but they were far from acting angry with Rafa yesterday. Not that Mr Bates would have checked this out anyway. He goes on…

Last night Benitez insisted Gerrard was happy despite being played on the wide right of midfield and he doesn’t want to sell his inspirational skipper - who feels he’s wasted in an isolated role.

But senior members of Liverpool’s hierarchy are concerned a substantial bid from Madrid for the Anfield skipper is in the pipeline - and this time the 26-year-old England star will go.

Well there’s only one “senior member” of Liverpool’s hierchary who’d go to the likes of Bates with his views in this way, and he picked the People’s sister paper the Daily Mirror for his moment of back-stabbing. The next paragraph from Mr Bates was sensationalist nonsense, because Gerrard still does not want to leave Anfield, no matter how many reporters and pundits try to make it seem that way:

He knows his only realistic escape from Anfield next summer is to Spain to either Madrid or Barcelona.

Chelsea no longer need him, while Arsenal couldn’t afford his fee or £120,000-a-week wages and he wouldn’t go to Manchester United.

Meanwhile the Sunday Mirror are just as bad:

SundayMirror.co.uk - WORLD EXCLUSIVE: GERRARD’S RAFA RIFT
29 October 2006
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: GERRARD’S RAFA RIFT
Skipper’s future in the balance
By Simon Mullock

STEVEN GERRARD’S future at Liverpool is hanging in the balance, with the Anfield captain growing increasingly unhappy with life under Rafa Benitez.

Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal the strained relationship between Gerrard and Benitez is now close to breaking point.

Gerrard publicly insists that he is happy to play anywhere in Benitez’s tactical system.

But privately, he feels his poor form this season is down to the Spaniard’s insistence that he plays wide on the right of midfield, while Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko play in his favourite central position. Gerrard is prepared to put his preference to one side for England - but feels his talent is going to waste at Anfield.

Benitez, who has insisted he will not quit Liverpool, now faces a third fight to keep the £30m-rated midfielder at his home-town club. Gerrard looked destined for Chelsea after Euro 2004, but was persuaded by Benitez when the Spaniard arrived at Anfield from Valencia.

Twelve months later he asked for a transfer after becoming frustrated by the lack of progress regarding new contract talks - but changed he mind again.

“World Exclusive”? You made it up! Sorry Mullock, but you aren’t one of Gerrard’s confidantes! He’s probably not even heard of you, let alone spent any time chatting with you. “Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal the strained relationship between Gerrard and Benitez is now close to breaking point” - I think you mean that Sunday Mirror sport’s lazy reporter made this story up on Friday afternoon, after Lipton printed the story in the Daily version of your paper from the idiot on the Liverpool board.

Some of the stuff being spread about Stevie around Liverpool is even worse than this, and equally fake. All kinds of stories about personal issues for Stevie, all kinds of stories about how one paper or other will have it printed soon, yet not a shred of evidence. No photo, no video, in this day of camera phones. No “someone close to the couple” quotes. Nothing. Why? Because none of it is true.

I don’t know how they live with themselves making stuff up like this, when they know that it can only cause hurt. Stevie hurt a lot of us when he said he was leaving - but he made up for that in other ways. We’d not have won the FA Cup without him for example and we certainly wouldn’t have finished third last season without him. All the players have started off badly this season, Stevie included, but yesterday they showed that they are determined to stop the rot. If Stevie comes out in the papers himself and says he’s leaving, that’s the time to slate him. Until that happens - and all the real evidence points to it not happening - then button it.
It’s time that Liverpool supporters (not all of you, just some of you) started to remember that Steven Gerrard is a life-long Red and a human being, just like you. Ignore the stories the mancs and bluenoses are trying to spread. And stop spreading them yourselves too - especially those of you who’ve sent emails to us with this nonsense. The press are already having a good go at ruining Steven Gerrard and Liverpool’s season, and I really don’t know why. Don’t give them that bit of help they need to finish the job off.

People who are close to the players know that these stories are nonsense, especially the rumours that no paper would dare to print because they are so fake they’d be sued. The rumours are so wide-ranging that eventually they might actually get one right, but there’s no way all of them could be right, they contradict each other. And if just one of them did turn out to be true, don’t Liverpool supporters owe it to Steven to allow him to sort it out in his own way?
As for what the papers can print, well between Friday’s Mirror and today’s two Sunday versions of that paper, it’s clear that someone in that group - at least the southern-based part of that group - has some kind of an agenda against Liverpool FC and maybe that’ll be clearer soon. In the meantime I think most Reds would be better finding something else to read instead.

The classless, faceless, nameless coward who set about destabilising Liverpool is probably feeling quite proud of himself this morning. Just about every Liverpool fan site has condemned his comments, condemnation also coming yesterday from Rick Parry. Rafa Benítez also had to defend himself, from someone supposedly part of the same club he works so hard for.

Other newspapers have now had a chance to put their own opinions into the mix. The Guardian starting off by putting Rafa’s views forward, and seemingly being in support of Rafa more than the coward who should (in our view) fall on his own sword today.

Benítez has club’s backing despite criticism from boardroom - Guardian Unlimited Football

Manager reacts angrily to claim his policies have put Liverpool out of title hunt, writes Dominic Fifield

Rafael Benítez pleaded for a sense of “perspective” last night in the wake of criticism attributed to an unnamed club director, though the Liverpool manager admitted that he had expected his side to perform more coherently in the Premiership this season after their heady cup successes in his first two years in charge at Anfield.

…

Benítez was visibly annoyed by the criticism. “People have short memories,” he said. “I don’t remember people talking about rotation when we were beating Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea or Milan. And last season, when we won 11 games in a row, people were not talking about [Steven] Gerrard playing on the right side, and rotation.

“If you haven’t won the most important trophies for years then there will be expectation. That’s normal. But we won the Champions League [in 2005] and something changed. Because we won that, and the next year we won the Super Cup and the FA Cup, then people - all of us - were waiting for us to become contenders for the Premiership. But we started really badly away from home and now it’s a similar situation to last season. Then we worked hard, changed some things and the team was better. We will try to improve now by working harder and better.

“I hope to see the same things happen this year as last year, but you need to have perspective and analyse the situation. Manchester United went 26 seasons without winning the league, and at Valencia it was 31 years. These things happen in football. You can improve a lot, but if the other teams are improving as well then it is more difficult.”

…Liverpool were sufficiently alarmed by the comments to launch an internal inquiry yesterday in order to unearth their source.

The Independent were also coming down more on Rafa’s side than on the side of the faceless  director who despite a fair length of time in office clearly doesn’t understand the Liverpool way. Andy Hunter referred to football losing its marbles.

Independent Online Edition - Benitez shakes off boardroom criticism
By Andy Hunter

Proof that football has lost the last of its marbles emerged at Anfield yesterday, when the only Liverpool manager to lift two major trophies in his first two seasons at the club was forced to defend his record against vehement criticism from within his own boardroom.

Liverpool have opened an internal investigation into the attack on the style and transfer policy of Rafael Benitez, from one unnamed director in a tabloid newspaper, and quickly announced that the comments did not mirror the views of chairman David Moores, a staunch ally of the Spaniard whose majority shareholding prevents dissenters from having an influence on the manager’s future.

At a club that prides itself on unity, however, the exposure of a fundamental rift within the Liverpool hierarchy, along with the despondency at the team’s poor start to the Premiership season, has come as a jolt. It was boardroom stability that had a major bearing on Benitez’s decision to resist overtures from Real Madrid and Internazionale earlier this year. With the club now in the third year of its search for new investment to fund a proposed stadium move, as well as the ambition of a manager who has had to sell to buy, the outburst has attracted little support…

The Times meanwhile talk about the sacking of managers in general. Stuart Pearce has been under threat recently, as have Alan Pardew, Iain Dowie and Gareth Southgate. Pearce has spoken of his desire to see the equivalent of transfer windows but applied to managerial appointments and dismissals. The turncoat director who peddled his tripe to the Mirror is probably even prouder today to see that he has managed to get Rafael Benitez pigeon-holed with those four.

Times Online - Pearce in urgent call for chop window
By James Ducker
Click here to see the odds on who will get the boot this season

STUART PEARCE called for the introduction of a transfer window for managers yesterday in an effort to bring an end to the culture of “farcical” kneejerk reactions that he believes is blighting the game.

The Manchester City manager wants a system similar to that which exists for players that would make it impossible for a club to dismiss a manager outside two “windows” in the winter and summer…

A 4-0 thrashing by Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium last weekend — City’s fourteenth defeat in 17 away games — prompted an angry reaction from John Wardle, the club’s chairman, who gave warning that a repeat performance would not be tolerated, but Pearce is by no means the only Barclays Premiership manager to be feeling the heat.

Alan Pardew, the West Ham United manager, Iain Dowie, in charge of Charlton Athletic, and Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, have all come under varying degrees of pressure of late, while Rafael Benítez’s position at Liverpool was called into question last night after an astonishing attack from an unnamed Anfield director.

…

Having woken to discover an anonymous Liverpool director questioning the direction in which he was taking the club after a poor start to the season that saw them slump to eleventh position in the Premiership after a 2-0 defeat by Manchester United last Sunday, Benítez called for a little perspective yesterday.

“Some people have short memories,” the Spaniard, who has won the Champions League, European Super Cup and FA Cup in less than 2½ years at Anfield, said.

The tabloid that got the scoop from the fruit-loop puts Rafa’s views across today. The fact they didn’t ask him for his opinion the night before so they could be added to their article yesterday suggests that perhaps they were worried Liverpool might try to stop the story getting out. Or that it would then be a balanced article. Not all of the journalists at that paper hate Liverpool though, so expect some more interesting articles in the coming days. For now, they’ve stuck with this one:

Mirror.co.uk - RAFA’S FURY AT ENEMY WITHIN
By David Anderson

ANGRY Rafael Benitez last night hit back at his Anfield boardroom sniper when he said that criticism of the club should be kept private.

The Liverpool boss was shocked by the attack on him by an unnamed director in yesterday’s Mirror, who questioned his leadership and transfer dealings after defeat at Manchester United effectively ended their title challenge.

Benitez claims his critics have short memories and pointed to his Champions League and FA Cup successes in his two years at Anfield.

He said: “Everyone is in a hurry for success. But Manchester United did not win the league for 26 years and in Valencia it was 31 years before we won the league.”

It will be interesting today to see how the fans react as a whole. Most Reds are frustrated at the lack of, well, wins this season, but only a very small minority would want Rafa sacked. And of that minority, most would accept that doing so now without a replacement lined up would be absolutely, well, stupid.

Expect to hear Rafa’s name sung loudly and proudly. And if you hear any Christmas carols being sung listen carefully to the words being used!

As Wayne Rooney once said, “Once a blue always a blue”, and Sky pundit Andy Gray is one who’ll never shake off that fact about himself when he starts to talk about Liverpool. Speaking on his column on the Sky website Gray explained why he’s so worked up about Rafa Benítez’s policy of rotation and playing Gerrard wide right. And he is worked up: “I don’t care what Rafa Benitez says, in the English Premiership you need a certain consistency in team selection if you are going to be successful. By breaking up the team on a match-by-match basis it becomes very difficult for the players to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses.”

According to Gray, who’s never been a manager as far as I know, Rafa should look at the actions of the other three teams originally earmarked for league glory at the start of the season: “You only have to look at Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. They make occasional changes but not to the extent that Liverpool do and certainly not in important areas of the field.  Drogba and Shevchenko have played in all the big games this season, as have Rooney and Saha for United.”

It actually comes across as almost patronising. Gray says the Spaniard is being caught out by the differences between the English and Spanish games: “It may have worked for him in Spain but this is the Premiership, not La Liga, and the same rules don’t apply. You need to pick a side and stick with it. I can understand the need to rotate and rest players occasionally but not in September and October. After Christmas give a player a rest possibly but not at this stage of the season.”

Andy Gray’s cries of “You beauty” as Steven Gerrard sent Liverpool through to knock-out stages of the Champions League on the way to Istanbul are legendary. Sky use them to advertise HDTV but it must be getting embarrassing for him now at meet-ups of the old boys from Everton. Instead of discussing with their former manager how it’s all Liverpool’s fault that Everton became failures after the mid-eighties he’s no doubt finding he has to defend himself over why he was so enthusiastic about the Reds that night. He’s now – it seems - enjoying a chance to dig the knife in a little: “I don’t think it’s any surprise that Liverpool have gone further behind this year than anyone was expecting. They haven’t matched the standard they have set themselves in the past couple of seasons and defensively they have given away too many sloppy goals.”

He is determined that we all start to believe him over his opinions on Gerrard. He says: “As long as this malaise continues the Steven Gerrard issue is not going to go away.” So it’s an “issue” now?  Maybe, but really not as much of an issue as he wants us to believe. He carries on: “While they were winning games it was easier for him to accept playing out of position because it was benefiting the team. Liverpool fans may not want to hear this but if the situation continues, the club may have to consider selling Steven.”

Gray is probably also still reeling from the fact that David Moyes had to sell Wayne Rooney and wants Liverpool to do the same. I’ve heard Gray talk a lot of sense in the past but on this particular “issue” it seems he has his beloved Everton in mind as he comes out with each word. It really is stirring from Gray, who still won’t stop: “Benitez prefers to play with two holding midfielders and Steven is not one of them and would have to accept being moved around. It’s not inconceivable that he may find himself looking for a move away from Liverpool to pursue his ambitions elsewhere.”

You hope so Andy. Gerrard spoke yesterday about who he’s happy to play on the right for the good of the team. The thing is, if Gerrard was genuinely unhappy at Anfield, few Reds would stand in his way. What’s the point of having a player in your team if he’s so unhappy with where he’s being played that he plays poorly? Despite attempts by the rumour mongers, Gerrard isn’t so unhappy.

Gray tells us yet again (like he does every time we drop a point) that we can’t win the league. We know that Gray - although after what happened in Istanbul in 2005 we know that you should never say “never”.  Gray says: “Too many changes have affected them and the way they are playing at the moment there is just no way that they can win the league.”

Hopefully Rafael Benítez will have found Gray’s article and had it pinned to every wall of every room at Melwood, before having it enlarged and put on the board in the dressing room at Anfield. That’s where the players will be getting changed before their next match, against Villa. Gray seems to have forgotten to check that this is a home game for the Reds: “They face Aston Villa on Saturday and that is far from an easy game for them. Their home form has been good but their away form has been absolutely abysmal, and until that improves Liverpool will continue to struggle.”

We all know Liverpool haven’t played to their expected standards, but Gray’s comments are sounding more and more like that Blue you know from work every day!

A quick look at how the papers saw yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn. The general concensus is that our season was totally doomed until Bellamy came along and got us a point, rescuing us from that doom. Perhaps they’re right!
Independent on Sunday: Bellamy helps paper over the cracks of a crumbling season
Bellamy’s goal effectively got them out of the mire yesterday. Benitez believed his team’s dominance of the second half - in terms of possession, if not clear-cut chances - merited victory but there were plenty of frustrated voices among a 44,000 crowd that would give him an argument on that score. In reality, it had been as disjointed and unconvincing a display as they had witnessed so far from their side.

Sunday Telegraph: Bellamy rescues Liverpool
This was the perfect moment for Craig Bellamy to score his first Premiership goal for Liverpool. With the hosts drifting towards defeat against his former Blackburn Rovers team-mates, the prickly Welsh international headed in a far-post equaliser in front of a baying Kop to keep their unbeaten home run intact.

Liverpool had not lost at Anfield in the league for more than a calendar year, but they failed to play the disdainful, imperious hosts, instead proving sloppy housekeepers. This was an error-strewn performance from a side whose constant rotation is undermining cohesion. Home draws are not the foundation for a title tilt.

Sunday Times: Bellamy spares Liverpool blushes
Liverpool’s vulnerability remained. Faced with a routine through ball, Hyypia pondered and then panicked, allowing Jason Roberts to steal it from him and nudge a pass to Bentley, whose shot from eight yards glanced off the underside of Reina’s body and almost went in. Yesterday, Bellamy repaired a bit of storm damage but unless Benitez shores up his base the structure he has been building will never push to the skies.

Observer: Blackburn’s jetsetters show Benitez the way
While Rafael Benitez, pre-match, ranted and railed about the injustice of being denied Mohamed Sissoko and Dirk Kuyt because of injuries sustained playing for their countries in midweek, Blackburn’s Australian pair, Brett Emerton and Lucas Neill, were in the air, completing a round trip of more than 20,000 miles following their own international appearances.

People: HUGHES SORRY NOW AS BELL LANDS BLOW
CRAIG BELLAMY is used to breaking Blackburn hearts… so it was always in the script that he would score his first Liverpool goal in the Premiership against the club he loved and left.

The only surprise was that Bellamy had been so anonymous against his old mates until his vital leveller.

Armchair review.

I can see it being tough to watch this game on TV today. That’s regardless of how the game itself pans out, I’m referring to the crap coming from the mouths of those paid by Sky TV.

Andy Gray has decided that should Liverpool or Arsenal lose today they can kiss goodbye to the league. Kind of “Game over, and I hate saying that,” Istanbul 2005.

Richard Keys has followed the same party line, which is how it comes across. As if a meeting at Sky has taken place saying that’s how they’ll bill this. Actually what they billed this afternoon as is even more cringeworthy - “Grand Slam Sunday”. As well as us playing Chelsea, Arsenal meet Man United. The top four from last season all face each other.

Eventually we are handed over to the match commentators. Alan Smith (the ex-Arsenal player) and Ian Darke (the boxing commentator). I might as well turn the telly off now and go somewhere else for a couple of hours.

I’ll try and get the red button working and switch the commentary off.

Ian Darke has already said something or other about how many times Rafa Benitez has NOT named an unchanged team. Darke is actually worse at commentary than the current John Motson, and that’s saying something.

As expected, the Reds aren’t starting 4-4-2 with Gerrard on the left. This is the team sheet, as set out by Sky…

Reina
Finnan Agger Carragher Warnock
Pennant Alonso Sissoko Gerrard
Bellamy Kuyt

We wouldn’t have expected that to be the case of course, and it soon became clear it wasn’t the case. What we’d call it is fluid - and as soon as I say that then so does the boxing man.

After just four minutes Mike “Man U” Riley has already got a Liverpool player in the book. Most referees see a foul like that after less than five minutes and decide a talking-to will suffice. Not Riley of course.

Ten minutes gone and boxing man talks for what seems like four hours after the “ref” has blown his whistle for a free kick to Liverpool. Yes, a free kick to Liverpool. Pay attention! Twelve minutes gone and Darke is still saying “so very, very close”. Where’s that red button?…

Can’t Sky see how bad some of their team are? Andy Grey, bluenose that he is, doesn’t do too badly, Martin Tyler is OK too, but then it’s harder to find anything of any great quality.

Can’t the FA see how bad some of their referees are? No names mentioned.

Kuyt hits the bar with some power. So unlucky. And Gerrard has now spent the last bit of time over on the left after all.

Kuyt did blast that ball - hurry up Dirk, get a goal soon please, let’s not have another situation like we got last season with Crouch, where we knew he was good, but the press enjoyed having a go…

19 minutes gone, Carragher takes the ball away from Essien without touching Essien. Essien falls to the floor like he’s been sliced in the ankles by a machette. Replay proves it, Alan Smith: “Carragher didn’t get much of the ball there”.

Reina saves the resulting free-kick. Then boxing man and Smith talk about whether he should have been axed after that mistake last week.

“Liverpool couldn’t half do with a win here,” says the boxer boy.

22 mins. Riley misses what Bellamy does to Terry. A little trip. So Smith says “His manager won’t be pleased with him when he sees that.” Where’s that mute button?

24 mins - excellent tackle from Alonso, who’s probably waiting for a chance to deal with Fwankie Lampard. And Bellamy then ruled offside when he wasn’t. Where’s that valium?

Shock! 25 minutes and Riley has written the name of a Chelsea player in his book! I won’t write it down mind, it’s not one that is easily spelled. And another offside against Liverpool.

Shock II! Drogba booked too. About time as well, Riley said he’s already let him off before now. The free kick also results in a goal for the Reds.

Gerrard takes a corner again, next thing we know the ball is in our half. Gerrard’s not the best corner taker we’ve got (Alonso for one is better) so I’d like to see Stevie hovering outside the box at corners instead. That’s because he’s got arguably the best shot in the side.

35 mins. Some fancy work from Kuyt and co, but it didn’t quite work off - as soon as Kuyt has had a bit more time with his team-mates you feel these little things will come off, and to good effect.

I’ve noticed players slipping quite a lot on this pitch today, and then it occurred to me. It was’nt replaced all that long ago. Chelsea kept it a mess until they’d played us and Barcelona. It’s already showing signs of wear and tear!

Reina looking confident again, good to see none of this knee-jerk stuff from the press and pundits has got to him. He’s one of the reasons Liverpool improved so much in the League last season.

And after 41 minutes Reina is beaten, but there wasn’t much he could have done. Drogba has not been as good for Chelsea as he was before he joined them, but that was a sign of why they paid so much for him. Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0.

Boxing commentator Darke completely misses the fact that Sissoko has been booked, but is saved shortly after by the director. And after 45 minutes Sissoko is judged to have fouled Lampard. A look at the replay shows that Lampard “made the most of it” as commentators like to say, but this pair are saying Sissoko “is fortunate” to still be on.

46.27 - Gerrard shoots at goal when he could have crossed to two Reds. Oh well. 46.54 - half time and Liverpool don’t deserve to be one goal down.

Second half - Smith is slagging Pennant off. Red Button pressed (I was trying to resist). As the button is taking its time to work, Darke is now saying we are out of the race for the league. After 50 minutes of this game.

50 minutes and “Sissoko has gone” screams Darke. “Not a second yellow either” he says. Actually it was Michael Ballack, for stamping on Sissoko. PAY ATTENTION!

52 minutes and Sissoko is still being treated - it was a bad stamp by Ballack. And a rare red card for an opponent when Riley is ref!

58 minutes gone and it’s got all the hallmarks of a boring 30 minutes to come. Aurellio has come on, Liverpool have wasted a corner, Chelsea have just earned one. I didn’t get round to sorting out that red button - as soon as I pressed it we had the sending off and so I got out of it quickly.

60 minutes gone and Rafa is trying to give out instructions, clearly seen on the screen. He looks annoyed. Then Gerrard has another shot at goal that’s easily saved - it’s time he tried passing one today really. And I’m one of his fans!

61 minutes gone and Agger is elbowed in the face by Drogba. “Completely accidental” says the co-commentator with the dodgy accent. Alan Smith is poor and clearly never likely to get a job in football itself now he’s finished playing.

63 minutes gone and some excellent work from Gerrard is completely ignored by boxing boy. He’s going on about something totally irrelevant. He does, after seeing a replay of Drogba elbowing Agger, say “Looked different from that angle didn’t it?” Smith, clearly embarrassed, mumbles something mainly unintelligable about Drogba being too busy concentrating on the ball to be doing anything wrong.

65 minutes and on come Arjen Robben. The cheat.

65 and a half minutes gone and Arjen Robben has his first dive.

It was Sissoko, already booked, who was victim of the disgraceful dive by Robben. He is substituted - wisely - by Benitez before he’s sent off due to another Oscar attempt by Robben. Zenden is his replacement, to cries of “Chelsea reject”. Zenden left Chelsea to join Middlesborough at a time when Chelsea were no more likely to win anything than Boro.

68 minutes gone and Arjen Robben has his second dive. Penalty appeal turned down by Riley, who has shocked me today so far. I can’t see it lasting.

73 minutes and it’s been a bit of “end to end” action, without really any chances coming for either team. Robben managed to get the ball, run with it, then pass it - without diving! Kuyt and Bellamy have been kept very quiet today, but I can’t see Crouch being thrown on would make much difference. As soon as I write that, Kuyt has a header on goal, but it goes wide with him under pressure.

75 minutes and a stat - attempts on goal - Chelsea 3 Liverpool 7, on target 3-4. Then Gerrard is clearly pushed to the ground by Fwankie in the box. Play on says the referee who is reverting back to his normal stance on how to referee games involving Liverpool.

77.30 and on comes Crouchie, in place of Craig Bellamy. A couple of minutes later and Kuyt is pushed over, referee gives Chelsea free kick and Kuyt has a go at the ref. Nice to see the passion from Kuyt.

Ten minutes left and Darke says “They are slow starters, why are they slow starters?” after reading his stats book. Kuyt blazes over the bar from 12 yards. It was one of those where it came to him too high for him to be able to shoot, but he had to have a go.

82 minutes and Crouch, as ever, is penalised for winning the ball from a cross. Officials need to look at this again and stop falling for it - Crouch is winning the ball fairly but it looks different because of his height. A replay is shown of what should have been a clear penalty for Liverpool after Fat Fwank pushed over the player that jilted him and his club. Alan Smith? “It happened so quickly”. I hope you Arsenal fans are proud to hear your former player become so much of a Chelsea fan.

84 minutes and it seems to be all over now. A complete 100% dive from Robben. No doubt whatsoever that it was a dive. Replay makes sure that any doubters are put right. Alan Smith? “Oh, there wasn’t much in that was there?” I give up. And Robben got the free kick, and a chance to waste a bit more time. Darke is still going on about Liverpool’s season being over.

86 minutes gone and if this does, as now seems likely, turn into a defeat, it’s going to be remembered for the wrong things again. It doesn’t look like Chelsea are down to ten men, they’ve scored a great goal, but the referee is having a bad time spotting things. Chelsea are cheats, but don’t need to be. They aren’t bad enough that they have to cheat.

88 minutes and there is talk from Darke that there will be 5 minutes added on at the end. We’ll see.

Cech fumbles and gets away with it. No stick for him from the commentators - if it had been Reina you know there’d have been plenty of stick.

Liverpool really need to show Chelsea what they can do - they aren’t doing though. The clock is ticking round to 90 minutes - so what will there be for added time?

The board doesn’t work well, but we can see five minutes has been added. And Cech gets a yellow for time wasting - but surely it should result in another minute being added on too!

92 minutes and we’ve not been near their half in the last two. Cech fumbles again when we do get their, but gets praised from boxing man.

92.48 - Crouch heads at goal, but it goes straight to Cech, who this time doesn’t fumble.

93.20 and we are passing it backwards, then out of play. I am not going to write what I am saying at this point.

94 minutes and Drogba takes forever to walk off the pitch for the substition. Be interesting to see if the ref does add any of this on.

95 minutes up.

Cech gets the ball, and the referee is still playing on. But that’s it. 96 minutes played and we’ve lost.

Did we deserve to lose? No. Did we deserve to win? No. Is our season over? No - but we’ve got to work harder now to win the league this season.

Today’s referee for the match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Liverpool is Mike Riley.

I can guarantee that most Reds reading that let out a groan. Those that didn’t let out a groan probably heard the news elsewhere earlier on in the week, so they had already groaned.

I’m sure he doesn’t really hate Liverpool - he just gives that impression. He gets a lot of decisions right, but often seems inconsistent. Benefit of the doubt means benefit of our opposition. He’ll play to the letter of the law if it hurts us, but he’ll use common sense if it will benefit our opposition.

My biggest memory of him was when we lost at Old Trafford a few years back in a game I try hard to forget. Hyypia was sent off after about six minutes, United got and scored a penalty, Gerard Houllier lost the plot by making a defensive substitution. Mike Riley can’t be blamed for the odd choices made by Houllier, but the whole game was refereed as if Mike Riley had a United shirt on under his referee’s top.

Graham Poll, fresh from making a show of himself in the World Cup this summer was handed a high-profile derby last week and hardly redeemed himself.

I doubt Riley is a hater of LFC, but it will be interesting to see how he copes with a high-profile game, because he’s never really been very good at any of ours in the past.

Last season’s fixture at the Bridge between these sides saw Pepe Reina sent off. Arjen Robben, cheat that he so clearly is, was touched lightly by Pepe Reina and went flying as if he’d been actually been hit, not just touched. Looking back now and that act saw the last few pundits blind to what Chelsea are really all about open their eyes. We lost the game, we probably would have done anyway, but Chelsea lost that last little bit of support from any neutrals.

I hate cheats, I’m sure most of us do, and we don’t want to see them get away with it. That includes anyone in a Red shirt cheating - I’d rather lose than win cheating.

Can Mike Riley deal with cheats? We’ll see today, but I really hope he can deal with the fact that both sides need to be treated equally.

The questions do have to be asked though: Who chooses referees? Do they look at how those refs have performed in matches involving those sides before? Do they care?

Dave Maddock’s review of Saturday’s best-forgotten defeat at Goodison is headlined “KICKED IN THE LONG BALLS“, with a sub-heading of “Rafa: We can’t defend against Route One (PSST.. LET’S HOPE YOUR EURO RIVALS PSV EINDHOVEN AREN’T LISTENING..)”

That’s a valid point - surely it’s best not to say what it was that unnerved your side. Rafa has spoken like this before, for example pointing out after defeat by Bolton that we couldn’t handle their “physical” approach to the game (he meant “being kicked off the park like they were playing a Sunday league team” of course but had to hold back). Now Everton have got the better of us with their version of playing to win regardless of how pretty it looks, and Rafa says we can’t manage against teams that hoof the ball all the time.

It’s not totally true of course - we’ve managed to hold on against teams using the long-ball tactic before. For example, every time we’ve beaten Chelsea under that Portuguese bloke we’ve had to face that tactic for the last 20 minutes or so. Even though they’ve sold Huth, they’ll still be looking to Hoof it on Sunday should we be ahead towards the end. It’s about time we beat them in the league too.

When Rafa speaks you need to listen not only to what he says but also to what he doesn’t say. He’s not saying that Liverpool can’t deal with the long ball game, more that they wouldn’t deal with it on Saturday. As a result he wants them to get working on it again. “Early in the game they sent up one or two long balls and we were scared. “We were too nice and you can’t be too nice in games like these. You can’t be scared, you have to go out there and be strong when other teams play long balls.”

Sounds like a few players will be getting long explanations of where they went wrong, at some point this week, if they’ve not done so already. If you work in a factory that makes medicine balls*, don’t be surprised if a Mr Ayesteran appears this week to order two dozen.

In fact the tough Spaniard who is so important to Rafa is likely to work hard on getting those players right mentally for games against the likes of Everton - because Rafa wants the attitude problems sorting: “You have to win the first ball and then you have to win the second ball as well. It is about attitude. It takes time to work on tactical things, but you can change your attitude in one minute if you really want to.”

Attitude is as important in a player as any instinctive skill - and Rafa is determined only to have players involved at the club if their attitude is right.

Liverpool’s players reported back for pre-season in dribs and drabs, and their involvement in pre-season friendlies varied too, depending on how much they’d been involved in the World Cup. Then no sooner had the season started (well, in between the Charity Shield and the first league game) than the players were off with their national sides for friendlies. Two league games were played, then it was off for more international work as the opening Euro2008 qualifiers were played. Now there’s a whole month before the next round of qualifiers, and hopefully a month where Rafa can work on tactics and Pako can work on attitude. Rafa said after Saturday: “We haven’t looked strong defensively this season but then we haven’t had time to work much together because of the internationals.”

What’s also mildly worrying is that he’s not exactly had any more time to work on those players between the derby and this fixture tomorrow. They played Saturday, trained to some extent the day after, flew to Holland today, play tomorrow. No doubt PSV have had similar problems with their players ahead of tomorrow’s game, but it’s something that does need to be looked at.

On the other hand it’s a good sign of how much success we’ve had if we are having these issues. Whilst LFC are trying to make the best of having little time to prepare for a European game, Everton haven’t even got a game.

I’d rather be a Red!

* I’ve no idea if medicine balls are made in factories or if indeed they even grow on trees. I just know that they are heavy and it would make a football seem much less scary to any players with a phobia for a leather footy if they were bombarded with medicine balls.

So it all goes down to the wire for Liverpool in the hunt for second place. Saturday saw Manchester United lose 3-0 to Chelsea and Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-1. That meant Liverpool had closed the gap on United to level-pegging, and the goal difference advantage United had was cut to just four goals. United had a game in hand at that stage.

Tonight United went out against Boro hoping for three points but managed only one in what had been their game in hand. Now both sides have one game left each. This is at the weekend with both matches kicking off at 3pm on Sunday. Liverpool travel to Portsmouth, who are now safe from relegation. United play host to Charlton, whose manager Alan Curbishley will be taking charge for the last time.
If United win their game on Saturday they take 2nd place. There’s nothing at all Liverpool can do about that, other than reflecting on how they should have won against United at Old Trafford in January. United would have 83 points, the most Liverpool could get is 82.

If United draw then Liverpool need to win. United would then finish on 81 points, Liverpool on 82.

If United lose then Liverpool need to win. United would then finish on 80 points, Liverpool on 82.

If United lose 5-0 then Liverpool need to draw. United and Liverpool would then finish on 80 points, but Liverpool’s goal difference would be +30 compared to United’s +29.

In other words, Liverpool need to win, United must not win. If the Reds win and the Mancs don’t, Liverpool get second place. Could Charlton hold United to a draw? It’s possible if unlikely. Portsmouth may have been heading for relegation until they were saved at the weekend, but they are no pushovers. Still, it means there’s something to play for in the league for the Reds right up until the last day of the season, which keeps the players in competitive frame of mind ready for the FA Cup final the following weekend. It would be nice if the Reds were playing that game knowing they’d avoided the qualfying stage of the Champions League for next season.

Remaining fixtures, Sunday 7th May, 3pm BST:
Man Utd v Charlton
Portsmouth v Liverpool

Current Table:
2nd Man Utd Pld: 37 GD: 34 Pts: 80
3rd Liverpool Pld: 37 GD: 30 Pts: 79

Congratulations to Arsenal on reaching the Champions League Final. Well, congratulations in part. We got a lot of nice email fans last season after the semi-final and final congratulating us on our Champions League success. A lot of those emails came from Arsenal fans. For those Arsenal fans, and many more like them, we are very pleased. We are also pleased for Arsenal’s captain Thierry Henry. Almost certain to leave the Premiership after the Champions League final, he took time to pay tribute to our captain, straight after last night’s match: “I just want to say to Stevie Gerrard, if he is watching, he has been an inspiration for us all. I really admire the guy.” Gerrard himself had pointed out on Sunday as he picked up his PFA award that his own vote had gone to Henry.

Arsenal and Liverpool are rivals, have been for as long as I can remember, but the two sides have more respect for each other than they do for Chelsea or Manchester United. Would Roy Keane and Patrick Vierra have made compliments like that to each other in those circumstances? Not likely. There is one major problem in the relationship between Arsenal and Liverpool. Not the old rivalries going back to the fifties that might upset some Liverpool fans. Not the north-south divide or the 1989 last-ditch theft by Arsenal of our league title. These things are part and parcel of football and although uncomfortable can be ignored. The problem, right now, with Arsenal from a Liverpool fan’s perspective is their boss. Arsene Wenger is upsetting everyone in his path lately, especially North London’s equivalent of Everton, Tottenham. He’s having a go at everyone, and if Jose Mourinho had kept all of his previous promises open not to speak to the media then Wenger would be getting even more of the headlines. It’s not what he’s saying now though that bothers us as such; it’s what he said last year.

Just before Liverpool played Arsenal in the league at Highbury, Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League final, and Wenger was probably quite jealous. He decided to belittle Liverpool’s achievements by belittling the Champions League itself as a competition. He said that whoever finishes fourth in the league should go into Europe the following year, something I don’t think he’ll be volunteering for this season. Worse than that, in our eyes, he said we were lucky; that us getting to Istanbul was like Millwall getting to the FA Cup Final.

I’m sure he’d have said none of this had he known the way Arsenal’s season was likely to go, but reading these words again made us chuckle to some extent, and made it hard for us to wish Wenger luck in Paris. For the fans and Henry - good luck. For Wenger - you’re being sent to Coventry. The team you compared this year’s finalists to.

Here’s the article that was sent around the world via the press wires last year.

Liverpool ‘lucky’ to be in final: Wenger
May 7, 2005

Arsene Wenger raised the temperature ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool by saying the Anfield club were “lucky” to be in this season’s Champions League final against AC Milan.

UEFA are set to dash Liverpool’s hopes of defending the trophy should they beat the Italian giants in Istanbul on May 25 but finish outside the Premiership top four.

But Arsenal’s French manager - who has yet to guide the north London club to a European trophy since arriving at Highbury in 1996 - said Liverpool were fortunate to be in this season’s Champions League at all after only finishing fourth in the Premiership last term.

“Normally they should not have played in this cup. They are already lucky to be in it because of the advantage this country has in having four qualifying places,” Wenger said.

“Most countries have only three places, so they already had an advantage in qualifying last season after finishing fourth,” he added on Friday.

Chelsea may have dethroned Arsenal as Premiership champions but the Gunners, like Liverpool - who beat Jose Mourinho’s men, still have European ambitions dependent upon the final few league games of the season.

Wenger’s men are currently second, four points ahead of Manchester United, and if they stay there will go straight into the Champions League proper rather than having to play a qualifying round.

Liverpool, who beat Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League earlier this week, meanwhile are involved in a manic scrap for fourth with city rivals Everton and fellow north-west side Bolton.

Everton currently hold the coveted spot, just three points ahead of Liverpool and four clear of Bolton but they do have a game in hand on both their rivals.

And Wenger was adamant that if Everton finished fourth they should be allowed to compete in the Champions League and not be ‘knocked out’ by Liverpool.

“I feel the rules were clear at the beginning of the season so it was very difficult to change. You cannot knock Everton out of it,” he said.

“You could argue that four places in the Champions League is already quite a big share - and that if you are good enough to win the Champions League, you should be in the top four of your country.

“Normally I’d agree with the premise that if you win the cup you should be allowed to defend it but changing the rules for next season, so the winners qualify, would perhaps be the best solution.”

He added: “If you call it the Champions League, basically you should only have the league champions there.”

Wenger cited Barcelona, only beaten in the quarter-finals by Chelsea after the referee missed a foul by Ricardo Carvalho on keeper Victor Valdes in the build-up to the Blues’ winning goal, as the best side in Europe this season.

And he said Arsenal’s last 16 conquerors, Bayern Munich, as the “best European team we have played in the past four or five years”.

Wenger said the Champions League, which in the days of the European Cup was restricted to the holders and the continent’s national champions alone, was becoming more of a lottery than a test of excellence.

His view appeared to be backed up by the fact that last season underdogs Porto and Monaco contested the Champions League with Porto, then managed by current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, winning.

Meanwhile Liverpool, despite being 33 points behind Chelsea in the league, now find themselves in the final of Europe’s leading club football tournament.

Wenger praised Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez but said nothing had altered his view that the Premier League had to be a priority for a leading English club.

“The championship has to be our absolute priority as you cannot make the Champions League as the priority,” he insisted.

“Why would we change our style? Liverpool were one minute away from going out (before Steven Gerrard’s winner against Olympiakos) and who knows if the ball was in or not against Chelsea?

“Liverpool deserve a lot of credit and have shown a lot of courage, but the championship is the only competition where the quality of the team is reflected after 38 games.

“The Champions League has now completely become a cup competition (without a second group stage),” added Wenger, whose side face holders United in the FA Cup final on May 21.

“Everybody can win it. Last year you had Porto and Monaco. Every year you will have two different teams in the final because it is so open.

“It’s like last year, when Millwall were in the FA Cup final. Next year, you could have Coventry.

“Liverpool deserve all the congratulations but it’s difficult to draw the conclusion that they are dominating European football.”