Giving the captain the respect he deserves

This week, 10 years ago Steven Gerrard, made his first team debut for Liverpool Football Club. Since then Gerrard has gone on to captain the club and has established himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe. To put it quite simply, Gerrard is easily Liverpool's most important player. 10 years is a long time for a player to have spent at any club and to commemorate the occasion the Liverpool FC official website has declared it "Steven Gerrard Week."

Our skipper has been very highly praised, and rightly so. Even so, I can't help but feel he does not fully get all the respect he deserves. Even though he's considered one of the best players in the world, I don't feel he gets enough recognition.

In my honest opinion, Steven Gerrard is the best player in England. Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is obviously a fantastic player (although I hate his guts) and he's one of the most talented attacking players in Europe. I think last season there was no player better than Ronaldo (because scoring 40+ goals is a feat itself, but scoring 40+ from the midfield is insane). But in terms of overall playing ability, Gerrard is the best in England and I'll explain my rationale behind this.

Steven Gerrard is one of the most complete midfield players in the history of the game. He's got an amazing shot and amazing vision - getting nearly 20 goals and 20 assists a season. Physically, he's got everything you would want in a football player: he's quick, he's pretty tall, he's strong, and he's got amazing stamina. To accompany great attacking prowess and physical talents, he's been blessed with great defensive capabilities. Liverpool legend and former England international, John Barnes, believes, "He is the most important player Liverpool has and could be the most important player England has. In my opinion he is the most complete midfield player in Europe. If you look at attacking midfield players with Zidane and Ronaldinho and you look at defensive midfielders like Claude Makelele, creative midfield players with the passing of Beckham. He can do it all. For me he is the most complete midfield player in the world." To have the skills of 4 world class midfielders attributed to him is no small praise and there are few midfielders in the history of the sport who have such an honour.

Because he is such a complete midfielder he's extremely versatile. He's best known for playing as a central midfielder, where he is in the middle of the action dictating our play. This is where he has played for the majority of this season, being one of our better players. This allows him to showcase both his defensive and offensive capabilities. However, we must not forget that he can play in a variety of possitions better than many players can. He broke into the Liverpool first team 10 years ago playing on the right hand side of the midfield - and when he won the PFA Player of the Year award it was given to him because of his outstanding season on the right of our midfield in the 05/06 season. During that season he was given a free role out wide, much like the great Pavel Nedved of Juventus. Last season we saw Gerrard establish a great partnership with Fernando Torres playing as a central midfielder - but higher up the pitch in a more attacking role than a regular central midfielder. And who can forget his performance in extra-time against AC Milan in the Champions League final of '05, playing as a right back. That was a quality performance from him, playing in a very different role than he is used to.

Steven Gerrard is a player who enjoys making a name for himself on the big stage. He has scored in many many important games, as well as many cup finals. God knows how many games where Gerrard has managed to rescue Liverpool from an embarrassing defeat or draw and give us a win. Some of my greatest sporting memories have been the ball flying from our captain's right foot into the back of the net. I think the best example of this is the 2006 FA Cup final, where two goals from the skipper (including a last minute stunner) allowed the Reds to claw their way back into the game and eventually win it on penalties.

Aside from his playing ability, Steven Gerrard is a leader on a team of captains. Liverpool have an extraordinary number of players who have either captained another club club or their national team (or both). These players include Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Robbie Keane, Yossi Benayoun, and I think Martin Skrtel has captained Slovakia once. Despite having all of these leader-figures on the team, one man stands out as the definite leader. He inspires the team with his performances on the pitch and is always ontop of players making sure they give it their all. As a local lad playing for his boyhood team he knows what the club means to the fans and he'll do his all to get the win for his club.

He's so good that even the Queen of England made him a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Now tell me that isn't cool.

Steven Gerrard is a player of tremendous talent and he's easily the best player I've ever seen in a Liverpool shirt. He's a player that will be remembered as a great in the following decades and it's really great to be a fan of a team that has a player with so much quality. He's a living legend and I think he should get a lot more respect from Liverpool fans and from non-Liverpool fans.

Steven Gerrard: Living Legend

In other Liverpool news Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres scored two fine goals while on international duty with Holland and Spain respectively. Congradulations boys! Now come home and do the same for us!

And because I have spent so much time praising the Liverpool captain, here is a YouTube video highlighting his excellence:

Dirk Kuyt - Our Flying Dutchman

A lot has happened in the world of Liverpool Football Club since my last posting. Tottenham once again managed to beat Liverpool at White Heart Lane, this time beating a side of mostly second string players (bar Agger and Torres) quite badly, with the score of 4-2. It's not a good result, but it was in the Carling Cup and I don't really care about that competition.

That was last Wednesday. On Saturday Liverpool hosted Bolton Wanderers, who are an absolutely terrible side. In the first half we were all over them, but didn't quite have any incisiveness. Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after the post. Bolton had a goal disallowed as their captain was obstructing Pepe Reina during a corner kick. Liverpool were lucky when Ricardo Gardener hilariously slipped in front of an open goal. Shortly after Fernando Torres was introduced as a substitute, he set up Steven Gerrard for a header, completing the scoring at 2-0. A good win that keeps us on pace with Chelsea in the league tables.

Subject to heavy criticism last year, Dirk Kuyt is a huge part behind Liverpool's successes this season

Liverpool have been impressive in the league this season and this is down to the form of some key players. One such player is Dutch international Dirk Kuyt, who has been in imperious form this season. Some Liverpool fans will nod in agreement, others will hotly dispute this claim.

When Dirk Kuyt signed for us in 2006 we'd signed the Feyenoord captain - a beloved striker by the fans with one of the most impressive goal records in Dutch football. The early days of his Liverpool career were fantastic - he didn't score too many but he worked harder than anyone else on the pitch. He looked a quality player and scoring the final goal in Liverpool's Champions League Final loss to AC Milan in Athens.

After Liverpool had experienced the heartbreak of defeat in Europe's most prestigeous competition, Kuyt faced further heartbreak when his father lost his battle with cancer and past away. While the Dutchman claims it did not effect his football form - he was a truely abysmal player last season. With only 3 league goals to his name, Kuyt found himself struggling for a place in the first team. Unable to find the back of the net with consistency, Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez found a place for Dirk in the starting lineup. Kuyt was converted from a striker to a right-sided midfielder and Liverpool's form turned around. Kuyt found himself scoring important goals once more.

This season Dirk Kuyt has been pivotal for Liverpool. We simply would not be as successful as we are currently if he was out of the first team. To look at his impact on the team we have to see what Dirk Kuyt adds to our side. He is an attacking player who plays primarily on the right side of our midfield or as a striker - so let us first look at what is usually a good indicator of a quality wide-midfield player.

What we usually expect from wingers in England is for them to have great technical ability, for them to be able to run with the ball at fullbacks. Kuyt is a player known for his relatively poor technical ability. He is not blessed with great pace. It is usually quite rare for him to take on fullbacks head on. It is quite clear the Dutch attacker is not your typical wide player. What Dirk Kuyt offers to a side is very valuable and not every player can offer it. He is a rare gem of a player, despite his lack of technical ability.

So what talents does he bring to the table? He's got the striker instincts with fantastic off the ball movement. Even when he was in very poor form last season, you could still see his predatory striker instinct. He knows how to get the ball on target - which is the first step to scoring. He always takes up great attacking possitions and makes himself an attacking outlet. This season he's been contributing many goals and assists because of this. These predatory instincts highlight the big man's vesatility. We've been playing him mostly as a right winger (although in an atypical winger role). But he's also more than handy as a striker. Being able to play well in more than one position makes him a very valuable player.

Kuyt's industriousness has been key in Liverpool's title challenge

Perhaps his greatest value to a club like Liverpool is his tremendous workrate. He is an attacking player who never forgets his defensive duties. If he loses the ball, you can guarantee he will do everything he can to get it back. He will track back further than you can imagine and will happily march all the way up to the opposition's byline. The effort he puts in on the pitch is amazing and most fans appreciate any no-nonsense, hardworking player, who will consistently put himself on the line to grab the team a win.

Something that goes hand in hand with his workrate is his amazing stamina and physical ability. I think moving him out wide onto the right really showcases his physicality and stamina. He may not have great pace, but he has great endurance and is not likely to get bullied by defenders. Instead he is likely to attempt to bully the defenders and use his stamina to wear them down. I think this is a tremendous part of his game.

Furthermore, Kuyt is mentally very strong. You can see it in the way he plays. He really understands the game - he takes intelligent possitions on the pitch and he works well with players like Gerrard, Torres, and Babel when we counter attack. He was the captain of Feyenoord and he has leader qualities, he's never moaning about anything on the field and is always seen encouraging his teammates and that is something that is great to see from your players. And to come back from a tragic loss which learly effected him deeply, coming back from some truly terrible form and working hard to establish yourself in the first team at a club like Liverpool takes some real mental fortitude and if you don't believe that then I simply just don't know what to say to you.

So I think Dirk Kuyt is an unsung hero, really. He brings a lot to our side and despite his limitations is a very talented player. This season he's really proven that with the amount of assists he has racked up - and is currently our joint top scorer (sharing the title with our glorious captain Steven Gerrard MBE).

Keep posted, my friends, there will be more updates this week. The topics of discussion will be: Steven Gerrard and his 10 years at this football club, our fullback situation, and an in-depth analysis of what I think Liverpool's starting lineup should be.

It's better on top

So we had not won in two games: with a disappointing loss away at Tottenham and a penalty saving our blushes at home against Atletico Madrid in our midweek Champions League clash. What the Reds needed was a return to winning ways to maintain the league title challenge.

Liverpool delivered. It was the last fixture of the day in English football, and on a rainy night at Anfield, Liverpool hosted newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. West Brom are known for their possitive attacking mentality, despite really struggling for goals this season. And I really respected their confidence and willingness to get forward and try to take the game to us. It was a really pleasant change from having teams visit Anfield and try to put all 10 players behind the ball.

The starting lineup was Reina in goal, with a back four of Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, and Aurelio. In midfield we started Mascherano and our captain Gerrard in the middle running things, with wingers Riera and Benayoun on the flanks and two strikers up top in Robbie Keane and Dirk Kuyt. A nice possitive 4-4-2, so we could take the game to West Brom. The visitors started well, they kept the ball nicely and moved it about the pitch with pace and fluidity - had I not known better, I wouldn't have thought they were massive underdogs or a promoted side.

But Liverpool grew as the game went on. Chances started to be created, the first of which came from Yossi Benayoun who got through on goal. The Israel captain had a shot which was blocked by goalkeeper Scott Carson (who played 9 games for Liverpool) and the arm of Jonas Olsson. The referee, however, deemed that this handball was accidental and therefore did not award a penalty. In the 34th minute, the deadlock was broken when Robbie Keane scored his first premier league goal for the club he supported as a boy. The Irishman connected with Steven Gerrard's pass and scored with a great left foot finish.

For the remainder of the first half, the game was Liverpool's. Numerous chances were made and shortly before the half time whistle blew, Robbie Keane latched onto a great ball played by Fabio Aurelio. Keane rounded Carson and slotted in once more with his left foot into the open goal. The second half was more dull. West Brom never looked like breaking through until they put Chris Brunt on as a substitute. The young winger has got one hell of a cross and can take a good free kick - and his delivery was worrying for the Reds, though they dealt with it well.

At around the 70th minute the man of the match, Robbie Keane, was substituted off for Fernando Torres. It was great to see the Spaniard striker back on the pitch and while I think Keane should have been given the chance to complete his hattrick and perhaps Kuyt should have been taken off instead - I'm really looking forward to the prospect of a Torres-Keane partnership up front. Torres had one shot and participated in build up play, but if I'm honest the world's greatest striker didn't really have too many chances today. The scoring finished near the final whistle, when right back Alvaro Arbeloa received the ball in the box to score a left footed curler - making the final score 3-0.

The result makes the title race interesting. As you can see, (if you click the link) Liverpool are currently top with 29 points. This could change tomorrow as Chelsea have a higher goal difference and are playing tomorrow. Today's match between title rivals Arsenal and Manchester United was important. Arsenal have been in bad form lately, losing to the likes promoted teams Stoke and Hull City. Arsenal pulled off a big win against Liverpool's biggest rivals (playing some very good stuff too). But being 8 points clear of United and 6 points clear of Arsenal is fantastic for this stage of the season. We need to keep this up for the rest of the season. On a side note, I don't think I have ever seen the bottom half of the table so close. We're in for a very interesting season.

Well, a good win today. I'm very glad to see Robbie Keane looking like the player we paid so much for and I'm happy to see Fernando Torres on the pitch once again. Here's hoping for a Chelsea loss tomorrow. Until next time, my friends.

Liverpool Draw, Mascherano to be Argentina captain, Barack Obama wins

Yesterday was an eventful day for everybody in the world. For Liverpool fans the action started earlier than it did with most people as there was a midweek game against Atletico Madrid. This was our golden opportunity to bounce back from our loss against Tottenham with an emphatic win - and we saw a rather tame performance. Once again we lacked any cutting edge from goals and while they scored a spectacular goal, they were not a team comfortable in the lead. After two legitimate penalty appeals had been denied, the wonderful referee decided to award a penalty to Liverpool based off of a very dodgy decision. I don't think it's right that referees can make so many high profile mistakes in such a high profile game and really not fear any reprocussions. If I do a bad job at something, I fear reprocussions - not so for professional referees.

In any case, the game was dull. It highlighted a real worry for Liverpool fans everywhere: Why can't we score without Fernando Torres. He is probably the best striker in the world and any club missing a player like him would feel some impact. But with players like Gerrard, Keane, Riera, Kuyt, and Babel the attack should really be looking a lot stronger.

This weekend the Reds face West Bromwich Albion, a team that we should be able to beat with relative ease. They're a newly promoted club and they are not looking too strong. This game is must win (unlike yesterday's Champions League fixture). We must remain competative in the league to retain our title ambitions.

In other Liverpool news, defensive Javier Mascherano could be in line to be the next Argentina captain. Now that legendary player Diego Maradona (probably the best player to grace the game) is the manager of Argentina, he wants Mascherano to lead his country. To quote El Diego, "I want Mascherano to be my captain because I believe he is the Argentinian player who is closest to the idea I have about the Argentinian shirt - sweat for it, sacrifice for it, being a professional, being close to the team-mate. I will convince him, he will be my captain." Rafa Benitez, Liverpool manager, has endorsed the idea of Mascherano becoming captain. I'm pleased for Javier, he's a very good player, who really changed our midfield as soon as we brought him in. It's an honour to be captain of your country, especially a country like Argentina which can actually compete for prestigious international trophies. Perhaps in 2010 we will see Mascherano lifting the World Cup above his head.

And lastly, last night was too big of an occasion for me to not comment on. I know this isn't a political blog and I don't mean to alienate any readers or anything. I simply feel that as witnesses of something historical, we should reflect on the moment as much as possible. As someone who just got their citizenship in January, I must say that being an American is quite awesome. I had never felt so happy as I had when I listened to Barack Obama (the President Elect!) give his acceptance speech. I feel like there is so much potential in this presidency in terms of progress made societally and so much can be done for civil rights. I am very optimistic for what the future holds in these uncertain times.

Also, I think it's really funny that I've seen conservatives on facebook change their status to say things like "... is moving to Canada" or "I'm leaving the US" or "it's time to move to Britain." As a proud Brit, I will happily tell you that if you move to the United Kingdom you will find it to be much more liberal than America. Most people recognize that Canada is significantly more liberal than the United States. In fact, most places that these people would willingly want to live are much more left leaning politically than the U.S. I can understand being sore about the loss - but really, when you make idle threats, at least make them make sense.

Liverpool lose, I get disappointed

As far as Liverpool goes, this was not a good weekend. We're no longer on top of the league (although, we're level with Chelsea on points). The warning signs were there on Wednesday, we were all over Portsmouth but struggled to score and won a penalty off of a handball from one of their defenders. I can't remember which one. Then Steven Gerrard MBE scored the penalty.

Saturday morning, was similar. We scored an early goal through Dirk Kuyt (who was fantastic, if anyone was wondering), but we couldn't get a second goal to kill off Tottenham. They got lucky and managed to score off a Jamie Carragher own goal, and after that they were back in the game. The game suddenly opened up and both sides were creating chances, and in the last minute of normal time, they managed to score thanks to a late strike by Pavlyuchenko.

It was a bitter loss, one that I felt like we didn't deserve. Although, I think that when you don't put your chances away and the other team does, you totally deserve to. So we did deserve to lose. But it's very frustrating, especially considering that we've signed Robbie Keane for a ridiculous amount of money (around $40 million, if you convert the currency) from the very side who have beaten us - and he simply is not delivering. He's given us three assists and 2 goals in 18 appearances. Now don't get me wrong, I think Robbie Keane is a very good player and I was delighted we'd signed him and I'd always wanted him at the club, but we need someone else to provide goals for us. Throughout my life as a Liverpool fan we've won the league once - the year I was born, so I don't remember it. Since then, we've always had to rely on certain players to bail us out - Fowler, Owen, Gerrard, Torres. Not since Roy Evans left us as a coach have we had a dominant attack and I think that really hurts our title chances.

I can't wait until Fernando Torres is back. Once he's back fully fit and firing goals in maybe there will be less pressure on Keane and he'll be able to score more. And then everyone else will be able to score too (hopefully...)!

Well, here's hoping we can put a few goals away against Atletico Madrid midweek. Until next time, chums!

Reds go top, prepare to host Portsmouth

Stamford Bridge was Chelsea Football Club's impenetrable fortress. 86 games they went unbeaten, coming close to loosing a few times, but always managing to hold on and preserve their record. It was a feat that broke British records. But all of that came to an end on Sunday when Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso's strike deflected into Petr Cech's goal.

The match was a battle between two clubs deadlocked on points at the top of the table. Chelsea had (and still have) the greater goal difference and had been absolutely smashing teams on their way to the top. Liverpool, on the other hand, had proven themselves to be comeback kings on multiple occasions in the season already. With the 1-0 win, Liverpool are 3 points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.

I actually didn't get to watch the game because on Saturday I traveled to LA to visit my friend, see the sights, and go to Monster Massive. So I woke up too late on Sunday to actually see it (it was a fair trade though, because I had an awesome weekend). But beating Chelsea, ending their unbeaten home record, and going top of the league was a really great way to cap what was an amazing weekend for me.

Being on top of the league is fantastic, but it can be shortlived. Today there is a match against Portsmouth and that could bring our reign at the top to an end. We'll be up against Jermaine Defoe, who has been in great form all season, and Peter Crouch - the 6'8'' former Liverpool player with an incredibly hot girlfriend. Both of those players will be a test for our backline.

I think Fernando Torres is still injured, but if he can play I want to see him come back. If not, I hope Robbie Keane can start scoring in the league. Keane's a good player, but he's not scoring enough for the price we paid for him. I hope he comes good soon.

Until next time, my friends!

Liverpool prepare to face Chelsea

I said I would write again on Saturday, and here we are at 37 minutes past midnight and I am writing my second blog post on Saturday. All the focus in the Liverpool world is the impending match with Chelsea.

Chelsea are a weird club. We have probably played them more than any other club in Europe since 2005. I know we've played them in 3 Champions League Semi-Finals in the last four years (being victorious twice!). But they've got a very good record at home, and we'll be traveling to their stadium hoping to carry on our unbeaten run. Both teams are undefeated and Chelsea haven't lost at home for 86 matches or something ridiculous like that. I hope it's a good game.

I know it will probably be a dull game with both teams playing really defensive football because neither team will want to lose. And if I'm honest, if I were to expect one team to try to take the game to the other, it would probably be them (being that they are the home team). But this is a pretty good time to play them in terms of how injuries and suspensions have effected their squad. They've got Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and Joe Cole definitely out - those are huge players for them. We've got our own injury problems with Skrtel definitely out for a few months, Torres not being likely to play, and Keane, Gerrard, and Alonso all carrying what Rafa Benitez describes as "minor knocks." I really wish Torres could play though, that would be great.

I really hope that we can win this one. Chelsea are major title contenders and we're level with them on points (although they have a higher goal difference). Winning away at Chelsea wouldn't just mean ending their insane home undefeated stretch - but it would send out a serious message to the rest of the league. We want to win the league and I think this is the closest we've come to actually challenging in a long time. It's a long season, obviously, but I'm not old enough to remember the last time Liverpool won the league and it's something that I'm desperately looking to see.

I've got a busy week ahead of me with take home midterms, regular midterms, and various other activities. I hope that Sunday will kick start a productive week with a Liverpool win!