The Redmen contrived to produce another frustrating goalless draw against strugglers Reading last weekend. It was a game that we dominated throughout – registering 20+ shots – yet managed to come away from the without a single goal for our efforts. This was largely down to an inspired goalkeeping display by Alex McCarthy. Similar to the West Ham draw the previous weekend, it was a game where nothing went for us. This has been a recurring theme this season and it’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what is needed to grind out the victories required to turn us from a mid-table team to a side genuinely competing for a Champions League spot.
This season was all about transition; a building process for the future. In some ways we have progressed, certainly in terms of league placings and we have reduced the average age of the playing personnel which can only bode well for the future. However, it’s still infuriating at times as fans always prefer a quick fix, after all we are Liverpool Football Club, the 5 times European Champions and 18 times Champions of England! At present we are a million miles away from adding to either of those tallies and this new philosophy being implemented by Brendan Rodgers is encountering some doubts from a minority of our fan base. Personally, I am not too down about the progression currently being made at the club, but I can see why fans aren’t so pleased. Whatever happens, I feel FSG will allow Rodgers a lot more time for things to work and the summer transfer window coming up is a big one but, then again, aren’t they all!
Luis Suarez is still leading the goalscoring charts in the Premier League with 22 goals this campaign, but of late he’s hit a bit of a lull and hasn’t scored in his last four matches. His main rival for the accolade of the Golden Boot is Manchester United’s Robin Van Persie. He too had a barren spell and hadn’t scored for around 10 games before recently scoring a couple and is breathing down the Uruguayan’s neck. It’s time for Suarez to get back on track and start firing again and I am glad he avoided his 10th yellow card of the season, as it now means he is safe to play the remainder of the season, injury permitting, without a ban hanging over his head. Hopefully he can get back on the goalscoring trail this weekend when Chelsea visit Anfield, thus pulling further clear of his strike rival.
The weekend’s game sees the return to Anfield for Rafa Benitez – a man who certainly divides opinion amongst many reds. Nobody can ever doubt what he means to this football club, and he cemented his legendary status at the club when he guided us to our 5th European Cup triumph in Istanbul. He will always be fondly remembered by Liverpool fans and will receive a rousing reception from them on Sunday and quite rightly so. I felt that Rafa lost his way a little bit at Liverpool and got caught up too much with the off the field problems – such as Hicks and Gillett – and at times it was the detriment of the team. He had a nightmare in the transfer market too, towards the end of his tenure, when he deemed Gareth Barry as a replacement for Xabi Alonso, a move which ultimately made up Xabi’s mind to make the move to Real Madrid. I do know some of our supporters would love Rafa to return as manager one day, but personally, I’m not a fan of having managers back and as good as it was when Kenny returned for his short stint – picking up a piece of silverware along the way – I think in some capacity it can tarnish your reputation and in my opinion, the Rafa Benitez ship has sailed in terms of him being Liverpool manager.
So on to the actual game of football that takes place on Sunday. With our season fizzling, the game doesn’t really have too much riding on it. Having said that, games against Chelsea always have a bit of needle to them due to our modern day rivalry which stems from the numerous Champions League encounters between our clubs over the past decade. Chelsea have a couple of players in their ranks who we all love to hate and it’s always nice to get one over on them! Chelsea have got some superb footballers in their side though; the likes of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are box office in my opinion. They also have their Brazilian trio of Ramires, Luiz and Oscar who aren’t too bad either! Then there’s the small matter of Fernando Torres returning as well! When you add everything into the mix it has all the ingredients required for an entertaining atmosphere and a good game of football.
Do I expect us to win the game? Well I’ve predicted two comfortable 3-0 victories the past few games and both have ended 0-0 so I am tempted to say 0-0 for this game in the hope it’s a 3-0 Liverpool win! But in all seriousness, I will go for a 2-1 win for the Reds, with goals coming from Luis Suarez and Daniel Agger header from a set piece.
