blood is red for a reason.

For last night game against Spurs, Liverpool fans were in full force in the show of support to the manager & the team beleaguered by poor form and injuries to key players. The famous 12th man recreated the atmosphere usually reserved for European nights and the team responded with a solid team performance. 

Commitment, passion, drive, belief, persistence, concentration & tactical discipline were in abundance within the team. Spurs players were lost..not knowing what hit them. Every time a Spurs player got the ball, he will immediately be surrounded by two or three Liverpool players.

Liverpool were playing without key players such as Gerrard, Torres, Johnson & Benayoun but the team put forward were gritty and fought all the way for this meaningful win. Fringe players such as Philipp Degen and Kyrgiakos are beginning to show what a bargain they are. In fact, Kyrgiakos has churned up another 'man of the match' performance for a second game in a row. He has kept Crouch and Defoe quiet for the whole game and on the other end had come closed to scoring. Degen, playing in an unfamiliar right-side midfield role had a good chance of scoring when put through by kuyt. He has only Gomez to beat but he immediately reminded us of  his familiar defender role and make a wrong decision. Other than that, he had shown pace and skill and provided a solid performance.

Aquilani, playing in his familiar role as support striker, showed glimpse of why Rafa paid 20 million for his services. His passes were deft and quick and provided the assist for kuyt's first goal. With more game time and better fitness he will definitely more than capable of filling the gap left by alonso.

Dirk Kuyt, the hero of the day played his heart out. He was every where on the pitch, fighting for every ball. His first goal was well taken, and he was presented with two more sure-goal chances which he failed to convert. He kept his nerve in taking his penalty goal the second time, after the first kick was ruled out for infringement. 

Special mentioned to the stand-in captain, the courageous Jamie Carragher. He has set-up our intent and the shape of the game with a few well timed crunching tackles very early in the game. From there on, the players and us the fans knew what to expect....

The game against Spurs has brought out the best from all quarters of the Red Family..the manager, coaches & staff, the players and of course us "the 12th man". It proves that we are still up there with the best. So lets put our faith and continue with our undying support for the team......during good & bad times..blood is red for a reason!!! 

YNWA

the reading aftermath!

more bad news to us Lfc fans after the FA Cup lost to Reading;

fernando torres will be out for 6 weeks for tearing right knee cartilage

steven gerrard out for 2 weeks due to recurring hamstring strain

yossi benayoun  out for one month after fracturing rib

sad times to be a red... however as true fans, lets keep the faith.

YNWA

bad news for those 'rafa-haters'

the news is..rafa benitez is definitely staying put at Lfc...at least until the end of his contract!

rafa was really put under pressure to leave Lfc lately,  by the all manipulating British Media, the so-called expert pundits and of course many 'knee-jerked' Lfc fans. These people has put the strings of bad showing by the team  on the pitch in the EPL and the failure to qualify to the knock out stages of the Champions League squarely on the shoulders of the manager. They questioned his every moves - his tactics, his team selections, his transfer records right down to his goatee and color of his socks. 

Besides being reminded on so many occasions, these groups refused to acknowledge all the problems faced by the manager;

• The fact that the long injury lists at the early part of the season has affected team performance (Agger, Aurelio, Johnson, Aquilani, Skrtel, Benayoun, Riera, Babel, Torres, Gerrard - that's like the whole team injured). Important players such as Gerrard, Torres, Masherano and Carragher suffer injuries and fighting for fitness & form for the best part of the season.
• The fact that the manager was refused adequate transfer funds to beef up a squad which in many peoples mind will be a contender for the Champion spot of the EPL this season. Of course many will question his decisions on the purchase of 'injured' Alberto Aquilani but like what the manager has explained, Aquilani is the best player available at a knock-down price. He would have cost double if he is fit.

Other teams are also performing better due to the financial support from their board/owners during last summer transfer widow. Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspurs, Birmingham City all benefited from understanding owners. Though Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal has not spend much they have strong enough squad and has not suffer much injury problems.

Of course after a string of bad results, coupled with the many problems on and of the pitch, morale were low resulting in embarrassing show against the likes of Porthmouth. 

However, things look like brightening-up for Lfc. Players are back from injury and fit again (apart from Glenn Johnson). 

Despite all the pressures, Rafa looks set for the long haul at Lfc. His commitment towards the club is beyond doubt.

People might question this after he once issued a statement that he would quit if Fernando Torres is sold. At that time, Manchester City has tabled a bid of STG100million to Lfc - STG70million for Torres and another STG30million for Mascherano. Rafa rejected both offer.

"For those who didn't know, Rafa Benitez turned down the opportunity to take over at Real Madrid in the summer for the FOURTH time since he has been at Anfield. Benitez rejected a package worth €6million per year over a four-year deal and a transfer budget that a manager’s dreams are made of. The reason he rejected Real Madrid? Rafa believes that he is in the middle of a major project at Anfield, one that so far hasn’t reaped the rewards he expected, but is clearly a work in progress and he has faith in its ultimate success.

The aim is not to bring one league title to Anfield, but a succession of them and an era of Liverpool challenging for all major titles for years to come… "(By Gulliem Balague, Spanish Football Reporter cum Rafa's personal friend)

But for those Rafa haters, there is still hope..though it will be expensive for the club to sack Rafa (believed to be STG25million in compensation). Sell Torres for STG100million and Rafa will quit by himself... a handsome STG125million to the owners to settle their debt!!!

YNWA