Just curious as to who in the National Media people would classify as Reds or at least not guilty of being anti-Liverpool? I'm not one that harps on about the anti-Liverpool bias on Sky or in the Red as a rule but some recent articles have pissed me off to be honest. Bascombe's articles (match report in particular) were nothing short of disgraceful and when you see the Liverpool Echo making snide comments against our newest signing as below it makes you wonder who's articles are actually worth reading anymore??
Anfield has that siege mentality - and Jamie CarragherFeb 4 2008
by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo
RARELY has a magnum of champagne – even the cheap stuff they hand over at cheesy TV man of the match ceremonies – been so churlishly accepted.
Jamie Carragher looked like he’d asked for a pint of reassuringly expensive Stella, and been handed brown mixed – in an Everton mug.
But desperate times call for desperate measures.
And the anxiety which has enveloped Anfield in recent weeks was evident in Rafael Benitez’s team selection on Saturday night.
Sunderland, a team with a worse playing away record than Ashley Cole, were handed the utmost compliment, as the Reds sent out a side clearly designed to thwart their potential danger in the air at set pieces.
It worked.
Carragher was asked to shuffle across to play right-back, accommodating the inclusion of Martin Skrtel, who despite his other faults, is able to head a ball – and Sunderland rarely had a sniff of a goal.
But while Benitez greeted the clean sheet with almost as much satisfaction as the victory - “Pepe Reina has a record in the history of the club,” he proudly declared, after the goalkeeper became the quickest to reach 50 league shut-outs – he also admitted not everyone was quite so thrilled.
“He was not very happy, But he is professional and he understood,” explained Benitez, as he described Carragher’s reaction to the positional switch.
But these are trying times for the Reds boss.
It’s a time for siege mentality, not prima donna posturing – and Carragher reacted positively.
The last thing the Reds needed was another corner or hopeful free-kick creating yet more tension inside a worried stadium.
Liverpool’s flat first half performance had threatened to do that, until Carragher offered an unexpected bonus.
After defending with his usual trademark resilience, he loped upfield, tricked his way past Daryl Murphy with a Tom Finney-esque drop of the shoulders and provided the kind of cross Peter Crouch had been craving all evening.
There. Told you these were desperate times.
That was Crouch’s name you just read.
Reds fans have been crying out for a glimpse of a Crouch-Torres partnership this season.
And the lesser spotted target man was handed just his third Premier League start alongside the man most likely to benefit from his aerial flick-ons.
Quite why Crouch has figured so infrequently this season has already been subject to considerable debate.
Suffice to say that Benitez even seemed willing to forgive Crouch’s presence at a glittering charity event for cystic fibrosis in London on Thursday night, preparing for the visit of Sunderland by swopping bon mots and canapés with the Prime Minister and Elton John.
Will the more important relationship – Torres and Crouch – be allowed to flourish?
Who knows?
But there were moments of promise – notably when Crouch flicked on for Torres to outpace the Sunderland pack and confidently clip the ball past Craig Gordon.
Confidence coursed through red veins like a blood transfusion after that and by the end a shaky first 45 minutes had become a flattering 3-0 victory.
Whether that injection of confidence will be enough to see Liverpool through a trip to Stamford Bridge next weekend is another matter.
The fixture list could undoubtedly have been kinder.
With a long-awaited home win and three goals to laugh and joke about in training, the majority of Liverpool’s players will now disappear on international duty.
They return to face Chelsea, before the small matter of the leaders of Serie A arriving at Anfield.
But then comes the run of Premier League matches which will make or break Liverpool’s season.
Middlesbrough, Bolton, West Ham, Newcastle and Reading – all bar one at Anfield – offer the tantalising prospect of 15 quickfire points.
The kind of adaptability and professionalism shown by one of the side’s senior stars on Saturday could make that a reality.
Anfield has that siege mentality - and Jamie CarragherFeb 4 2008
by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo
RARELY has a magnum of champagne – even the cheap stuff they hand over at cheesy TV man of the match ceremonies – been so churlishly accepted.
Jamie Carragher looked like he’d asked for a pint of reassuringly expensive Stella, and been handed brown mixed – in an Everton mug.
But desperate times call for desperate measures.
And the anxiety which has enveloped Anfield in recent weeks was evident in Rafael Benitez’s team selection on Saturday night.
Sunderland, a team with a worse playing away record than Ashley Cole, were handed the utmost compliment, as the Reds sent out a side clearly designed to thwart their potential danger in the air at set pieces.
It worked.
Carragher was asked to shuffle across to play right-back, accommodating the inclusion of Martin Skrtel, who despite his other faults, is able to head a ball – and Sunderland rarely had a sniff of a goal.
But while Benitez greeted the clean sheet with almost as much satisfaction as the victory - “Pepe Reina has a record in the history of the club,” he proudly declared, after the goalkeeper became the quickest to reach 50 league shut-outs – he also admitted not everyone was quite so thrilled.
“He was not very happy, But he is professional and he understood,” explained Benitez, as he described Carragher’s reaction to the positional switch.
But these are trying times for the Reds boss.
It’s a time for siege mentality, not prima donna posturing – and Carragher reacted positively.
The last thing the Reds needed was another corner or hopeful free-kick creating yet more tension inside a worried stadium.
Liverpool’s flat first half performance had threatened to do that, until Carragher offered an unexpected bonus.
After defending with his usual trademark resilience, he loped upfield, tricked his way past Daryl Murphy with a Tom Finney-esque drop of the shoulders and provided the kind of cross Peter Crouch had been craving all evening.
There. Told you these were desperate times.
That was Crouch’s name you just read.
Reds fans have been crying out for a glimpse of a Crouch-Torres partnership this season.
And the lesser spotted target man was handed just his third Premier League start alongside the man most likely to benefit from his aerial flick-ons.
Quite why Crouch has figured so infrequently this season has already been subject to considerable debate.
Suffice to say that Benitez even seemed willing to forgive Crouch’s presence at a glittering charity event for cystic fibrosis in London on Thursday night, preparing for the visit of Sunderland by swopping bon mots and canapés with the Prime Minister and Elton John.
Will the more important relationship – Torres and Crouch – be allowed to flourish?
Who knows?
But there were moments of promise – notably when Crouch flicked on for Torres to outpace the Sunderland pack and confidently clip the ball past Craig Gordon.
Confidence coursed through red veins like a blood transfusion after that and by the end a shaky first 45 minutes had become a flattering 3-0 victory.
Whether that injection of confidence will be enough to see Liverpool through a trip to Stamford Bridge next weekend is another matter.
The fixture list could undoubtedly have been kinder.
With a long-awaited home win and three goals to laugh and joke about in training, the majority of Liverpool’s players will now disappear on international duty.
They return to face Chelsea, before the small matter of the leaders of Serie A arriving at Anfield.
But then comes the run of Premier League matches which will make or break Liverpool’s season.
Middlesbrough, Bolton, West Ham, Newcastle and Reading – all bar one at Anfield – offer the tantalising prospect of 15 quickfire points.
The kind of adaptability and professionalism shown by one of the side’s senior stars on Saturday could make that a reality.
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