Steven Gerrard. The End of a Golden Era at Liverpool?

Steven Gerrard has been 'Mr. Liverpool' since coming on the scene as a buzz headed 18 year old before becoming a regular in the first time by the time he was 20. What he's achieved at the club since then has been remarkable, not just for the awards themselves (see below) but the manner in which he captured them. His proudest and most iconic moment was his headed goal in Istanbul in 2005 and stating a historic turnaround. Seeing his side 3-0 down and completely outclassed in the opening half against AC Milan Gerrard scored a wonderful header and urged his team on to more. By the end of the enthralling match, Gerrard had helped lead his Liverpool team with a lion heart courage and determination to his 1st and the clubs 5th European Cup victory. What happened that night in Turkey will never be forgotten by any Liverpool, or real football fan that watched it. His dynamic play, technical power and driving will have made him the best English midfielder in the past decade. Praise from players such as Zinedine Zidane speaks for brilliance of Stevie G.

The generous quotes, personal and team awards, although plentiful do not include one important thing, a league winners medal.  Gerrard surely would have had at least a couple of these had he joined Chelsea when Jose Mourinho came calling in 2005.  It looks unlikely at this stage in his career to end with an elusive Premiership Winners medal in his trophy cabinet.  The club, and Gerrard has been looking to get back to winning ways in the domestic game every since the early 1990's.  Gerrard has enjoyed some great success in domestic cup competitons (includung the Gerrard FA final against West Ham in 2005/6) but he longs for the league title for his home town club as do the clubs new owners who have set about making that happen after taking over from the disasters reign of Hicks and Gillett. 

With Brendan Rodgers now at the helm after taking over from King Kenny, Liverpool is in a rebuilding phase.  The squad has been overhauled to suit Rodgers preferred system and style of play (a possession based 4-3-3).  Rodgers demands great work rate, concentration and commitment to the greater good which has seen many comings and goings this summer.  The main ones being the loan move of Any Carroll to West Ham, the sale of Charlie Adam to Stoke, and the freezing out of Jordan Henderson (all players who didn't fit into Rodgers system or plans) and various new technical players arriving at Anfield, including Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini. As the new boys set in, there is a legacy of the old guard that Rodgers looks keen to shake off to show he is the man in control at the club although he was undermined by FSG on the final day of transfer action.  Rodgers, after getting rid of Carroll expected to get the American Clint Dempsey in from Fulham, the Liverpool owners wouldn't bid more than £4 million and instead watched their manager's prime target join cross town London rivals, Spurs, for a meager £6 million.  They also turned down the option of signing Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge on a permanent deal, all this frugal transfer business after FSG had previously let Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish splash the following...

Player	Signed	Cost	Came from
Andy Carroll	31 January 2011	35,000,000	Newcastle United
Luis Suarez	31 January 2011	22,700,000	Ajax
Stewart Downing	July 15 2011	20,000,000	Aston Villa
Jordan Henderson	9 June 2011	16,000,000	Sunderland
Charlie Adam	July 2011	7,500,000	Blackpool
Sebastien Coates	30 August 2011	7,000,000	Nacional

Source www.liverweb.org.uk

This reversal in transfer policy looks to mean the New Englander's don't want to splash anymore cash.  Rodgers has spent close to £30 million bringing in talent, but also made £10 million selling, loaning and cutting the wage bill.  What does this mean to Liverpool's captain...

Gerrard's spot in the team looks the most troubled it's been since his full debut.  Even during the summer sagas that previously played out with Gerrard and Chelsea his place in the Liverpool starting XI was never really in question.  Other than suspensions and injuries, Gerrard has been a constant starter from Liverpool, and his passion, ability and leadership has made him, rightly so, the face of Liverpool.  Liverpool's terrible start to the season (including an opening day defeat at Liverpool's old assistant Steve Clark's WBA, and a poor home defeat last time out at Anfield against Arsenal (who hadn't scored in their 2 previous games) has got some fans worried.  More worrying is the lack of cohesion between Gerrard and his teamates so far.  Liverpool's only goals coming from set-pieces against Manchester City (Srktel - from a corner, Suarez - from a free kick).  Gerrard has given the ball away too often and this has directly lead to a couple of goals (one against West Brom and one against Arsenal).  His movement is sporadic and often too direct and reckless for Rodgers system, leaving holes punctured throughout the midfield 3 (similar to what happens to England when Gerrard plays with Lampard).  His roaming, marauding style of play makes him a fans favourite and means he gets the opportunity to shoot plenty and arrive at the edge of the box to create or score.  Now there is a more rigid system based on standardized teamwork rather than individual players showcasing their talent and driving the rest of the team forward he looks lost at times.  Gerrard is a fantastic player, and I don't think Rodgers can drop him without losing the dressing room and the support of the crowd, but I think he would if he could, to suit his system better.  Sahin looked rather off the pace but comfortable in possession in his debut against Arsenal, Allen is the midfield lynchpin who keeps the ball moving, then there's Gerrard.  His long diagonal passes, drifting movement pulled the team out of shape, and although he likes to drive forward he was pretty ineffiecient at linking up with Suarez (misplacing a pass led to Podolski goal) Sterling, or Borini. With Lucas out injured and the Liverpool squad pretty thin Gerrards position is safe for now, but unless he gets to grips with the system quickly or Rodgers adjusts it to get more out of Gerrard (very unlikely) this could see the frustrating end to what has quite simply been a fantastic Liverpool career for Super Stevie G. The lack of quality throughout the squad -Downing looking impotent, Maxi Rodriguez gone, Henderson average, and no new blood to challenge the Captain's place means he's going to play.  Sadly for Stevie, and us Liverpool fans, we need him more than ever and in this system, he just doesn't look like half the player he can be.

Club

• FA Cup (2): 2000–01, 2005–06
• League Cup (3): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2011–12
• FA Community Shield (2): 2001, 2006
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2004–05
• UEFA Cup (1): 2000–01
• UEFA Super Cup (2): 2001, 2005

Individual

• FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 2009
• PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2006
• PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2001
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2): 2001, 2009
• PFA Team of the Year (7): 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Premier League Player of the Month Award (5): March 2001, March 2003, December 2004, April 2006, March 2009
• Liverpool Top Goalscorer (3): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
• Ballon d'Or Bronze Award (1): 2005
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 2005
• UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match (1): 2005
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament (1): 2012
• UEFA Team of the Year (3): 2005, 2006, 2007
• FIFA/FIFPro World XI (3): 2007, 2008, 2009
• FA Cup Final Man of the Match (1): 2006
• Goal of the Season (1): 2006
• England Player of the Year (1): 2007
• Member of the Order of the British Empire: 2007
• Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University: 2008
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award – 3rd Place: 2005

Source - Wikipedia

What to wear - as a Premier League Champion

20 years of the Premier League. 5 winners. 4 brands.

The Premier League has evolved and improved year on year since it's inception in 1992-3.  The teams have got bigger and better as has their stadia.  The worldwide appeal of the English game has made it the most watched league in the world and television companies and sponsors all want a part of it.  Manchester City's win this weekend in unbelievably dramatic fashion made them only the 5th club to win the title joining Manchester United, Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea in this elite group.


During Sunday's final moments I noticed that Manchester City were wearing the decided brand of Champions in Premier League history, Umbro.  Although Umbro may not be seen as the biggest of football brands or kit suppliers these days with the emergence of Nike and Adidas in the Premier League era, it is still the most 'successful' in terms of teams wearing their kits and winning the league... 


Umbro was the biggest kit supplier to Premier League teams during the 1992-3 season with half of the teams wearing their distinctive logo,  11 of the 22 were Umbro.  Some of the other brands that were making kits that season will be a real blast from the past to some, and unheard of to others. He's a list of who else supplied kits during the first Premier League season


Umbro - 11
Admiral - 4
Adidas - 2
Ribero - 3 (Crystal Palace changed from *Bukta to Ribero in December)
*Bukta -1
Brooks -1
Asics -1
Nike - 0


The first Premier League winners were Manchester United and they wore Umbro, in fact Umbro and Manchester United won 4 out of the first 5 Premier League titles with Asics and Blackburn picking up the 1994-5 title.  All of these first 5 titles were won by Scottish managers (x4 for Alex Ferguson and x1 for Kenny Dalglish).  It wasn't until 1997-8 that a team managed by another nationality other than Scotland won the title, that man was of course Arsene Wenger as he lead his Arsenal team to the title sporting their Nike kits.
Between 1998-2001 United again dominated the league, winning 3 consecutive titles (the first team to do so in Premier League history) and again, they did it all wearing Umbro.  The 2001-2 season saw Arsenal win the league the last day of the season at Old Trafford to pip United and clinch their League and Cup double, again another win for Nike.  Nike signed a huge multi-million pound deal with Manchester United to replace Arsenal and that was good business for them as Manchester United won the title the following year 2002-3. Arsenal and Nike were back at it winning the 2003-4 title with their "invincible's".
2004-5 saw the arrival of 'the special one' Jose Mourinho in England and he swiftly lead Chelsea, wearing Umbro, to the back-to-back titles (2004/5 - 2005/6).
Nike had a hat-trick of titles with United following Chelsea's brief domination, before coming back on the scene in 2009-10 wearing Adidas kits (picking up the German brands first Premier League title) and the first Italian to win it, with Carlo Ancelotti doing a super job in his first season.
2010-11 Manchester reclaimed the title for their 12th in the past 20 years and again did it wearing Nike.


Umbro have come back into the fold for the first time in 6 years with Manchester City's triumph, to claim their 10th league title, compared to 8 for Nike, and 1 a piece for Adidas and Asics.  Had Umbro kept hold of the Manchester United contract they would have been sitting on 15 wins.  Instead they have slowly lost teams to their rivals, although maintaining the England National team's manufacturing rights.
20 years ago Umbro had half the league wearing their gear as they dominated the English game, now due to the emergence of other brands and their superior financial clout Umbro are down to 3 teams, the Champions Manchester City, the relegated Blackburn Rovers and the mid table Sunderland.

There's been some crazy shirt designs and kits during the 20 years of the Premiership, some iconic, like the Umbro collar that Cantona so famously flicked up or the grey shirt Sir Alex did away with at half time away at Southampton.  Hopefully we can continue to see more good, bad and ugly kits in the future, and maybe we'll see Nike finally over take Umbro as the kit supplier of England's Champions, but if Umbro manage to hold onto Manchester City though, there could be a few more titles coming their way.


Table of League winners with kit makers.

• 1992/3 Manchester United - Umbro
• 1993/4 Manchester United - Umbro
• 1994/5 Blackburn Rovers - Asics
• 1995/6 Manchester United - Umbro
• 1996/7 Manchester United - Umbro
• 1997/8 Arsenal - Nike
• 1998/9 Manchester United - Umbro
• 1999/2000 Manchester United - Umbro
• 2000/1 Manchester United - Umbro
• 2001/2 Arsenal - Nike
• 2002/3 Manchester United - Nike
• 2003/4 Arsenal - Nike
• 2004/5 Chelsea - Umbro
• 2005/6 Chelsea - Umbro
• 2006/7 Manchester United - Nike
• 2007/8 Manchester United - Nike
• 2008/9 Manchester United - Nike
• 2009/10 Chelsea - Adidas
• 2010/11 Manchester United - Nike
• 2011/12 Manchester City - Umbro

Totals

Umbro =10

Nike =8

Asics =1

Adidas =1

I couldn't finish the list without a quick mention of 2 new brands who will be working with Premiership teams next year, two American companies will take over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.  Warrior will make Liverpool's kit (as well as Lacrosse equipment Stateside) as they move away from Adidas and rising power Under Armour will make Spurs kit as they move away from Puma.  There's been some random and classic brands making kits throughout the Premiership years, here's some you might be surprised by...

Brooks, Lotto, Kappa, Le Coq Sportif, Canterbury, MiFit, Burrda, Errea, Vandanel, Macron, Fox Leisure, Clubhouse, Pony, Nutmeg, Loki, Avec, Reebok, Mitre, Uhlsport, Fila, CCFC Garments, Saints, Diadora, Joma, Xara, Hummel, Lonsdale, Airness, Jako, JJB, Champion and even no manufacturer for some...WBA 2002/3.

Survival Sunday - The finale

The best day of the season? Maybe.


The best last day of the season for sometime? Definitely.


Survival Sunday is upon us. It's a wonderful day for top flight English football. All games are played at the same time for the only day of the season. There is real excitement and tension at either ends of the table with the title and top 4 still to be decided and the 3rd relegation spot still yet to be settled.


The situation is this.


If City win at home (where they've won 17 of 18 this season) against a battling QPR side (rancid away from Loftus Road this season) then the first title in the Premiership era (and for 44 years) will be theirs.


There's the hype of it being a 'grudge match' for Mark Hughes after his 'unethical'?! dismissal from the club half way through the 2009/10 season. Fergie wishes Sparky was playing against the club he once
managed, but instead it will be Bobby Zamora, Djibril Cisse and Jay Bothroyd standing in the way of the Champions to be...
Ferguson hopes that mirrors will help his United team lift the trophy. "If you analyse Mark Hughes as a player and manager, all his teams seem to mirror him.
"He was a warrior as a player and I wish he was playing. If his team can mirror him then you never know." Mirror, mirror on the wall.  The City fans will be going wild with excitement if their team take an early lead, but the longer it remains goaless the more the tension, and nerves will rise.  An early goal and the game and title is over, if QPR keep them quiet for an hour it could be a very intense finale.

United will do their best to batter Martin O'Neil's Sunderland at the Stadium of Light (which shouldn't be too hard seeing as Sunderland seemed to have reverted to how they played under Steve Bruce in the past month or so). The United game will only add pressure to the City match. These City players don't have the Premier League winners experience that United have, but it shouldn't really matter, QPR at home is an easy fixture to finish up with, and if you'd said to Roberto Mancini 8 games ago all they had to do on the last day is beat the R's at home, he would have licked his lips and flicked his quiff in delight.


Tottenham, Newcastle and Arsenal are all playing out their own mini-drama in the battle for the 3rd automatic Champions League spot (if Chelsea win against Bayern in a just over a week then 4th place won't mean dick). 4th place will probably be enough as Bayern should beat Chelsea at home in the final May 17th, but it's not worth the risk (and extra games, of finishing fourth and going through the preliminary rounds of the Champions League qualifying.


Tottenham will play Fulham at home, they should smash the Cottagers who have nothing at stake.  The Yids start the day in fourth but will hope to pip north London rivals Arsenal to 3rd to avoid more piss taking about the 'mind the gap' banter earlier in the season.

Arsenal will play WBA for the England's managers last game in charge.  West Brom aren't too bad at home against Arsenal and the Gunners might slip up here and end up in 4th.  Maybe a big performance from the West Brom players as a thank you and fair well to their gaffa, as well as a thank god that we don't have to get drilled so hard in practice from now on!  Wenger has looked nervous all season and I'm sure he'll be clutching his stomach at some stage as he sits in his sleeping bag jacket on the bench at the Hawthornes.  The result against Norwich last week could haunt the Arsenal, who will be playing for their dark tinted spec wearing assistant Pat Rice who is retiring as an Arsenal legend after this game.

Everton will host the other contenders Newcastle, who will fancy scoring at Goodison with Cisse and Ba up top, but will be weary of David Moyes side who hit form late every year and look strong at home.  This could be the last time Newcastle's team plays together before they get pillaged in the summer by 'big' clubs. Cabaye, Tiote, Ba, Krul, Cisse and Ben Arfa will be monitored closely by multiple clubs this summer who know that  Mike Ashley has no problem selling his best assets, and Pardew, the recently voted manager of the year, has already admitted some players may go this summer.  Newcastle have to win, and hope for a slip up from either London club, unlikely.

At the bottom Owen Coyle will be kicking every ball on the side lines (in his full kit with trainers - ODD LOOK!) as Bolton take on Stoke at home.  The Potters lost on the last day of last season to allow Wigan to stay up and the Trotters will hope for a repeat of that.  The 2 late goals conceded to West Brom last week will have kept Coyle up all night this week, but they know that QPR will probably get mullered at the Ethiad so know a win will see them through.  I fancy Stoke to do a number on them here, even though half the team is already on the beach, and one of their most motivated players of late has been Ricardo Fuller (which is saying something!!!)  I'd prefer QPR to stay up because I love the home support at Loftus Road, it's small, compact and a real football ground.  Bolton have been crap all season and without the awful Fabrice Muamba situation I don't think many would have much sympathy  for them if they did get the drop.  Coyle also talks like he needs a drink and has peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth which irritates me wildly in his post and pre-match interviews so I'd prefer to listen to Mark Hughes' drivel next season over Coyles'.  He has a good reputation as a manager and is well liked in football circles, but I'm not sure why, he hasn't done a particularly good job at the Reebok and the off the field drama of this season has detracted a bit from the poor on the field performances, style of play and results.

So... for me, this is how I'd like it to finish...

At the top...

1. Manchester City

2. Manchester United

3. Tottenham Hotspur

4. Arsenal (with Chelsea winning the Champions League so Arsenal don't qualify for the Champions League)

5. Newcastle

At the bottom...

Relegated - Bolton

Safe - QPR

It will probably end up completely different to this, but wouldn't be the worst bet in the world.

Arsenal and United teach their rivals a lesson

Game management is something that mangers talk about a lot in the premiership. It's all about how their players 'managed' the game after going down a man, or a goal, or scoring a goal. This weekend saw Liverpool and Tottenham outperform their opposition but fail to capitalize on their superiority and collect the much needed 3 points. This is the business end of the season (which is stupid really as all games during the season carry equal point value - but every result in the run in is scrutinized and can create positive runs of form which can see a team over the finish line or dips which can drag them down in the doldrums), this weekend, Arsenal and then Manchester did the business by staying alive in games they were for large parts dominated in, but managed to come away with great away results.

At Anfield on Saturday morning, Kenny Dalglish will again be than happy with this overall team performance as they outplayed, out-passed and out-shot Arsene Wengers men. The difference in the game was the quality in front of goal. Liverpool have struggled to put the ball in the back of the net all season. Luis Suarez is undoubtedly dangerous, slippery and skillful and can work magic out of nothing, but he has come up short with this final product more often than not this season. 6 league goals so far in his stop start season (missing 9 games mid season for his FA bans) is no where near his form in the Eredivisie where like Dirk Kuyt he found goals a lot easier to come by. Andy Carroll, never prolific at Newcastle, hasn't found his scoring touch either. That leaves the midfield with a huge responsibility to chip in with their fair share, which they have failed to do. Stuart Downing has hit the woodwork a few times, but other than that has rarely threatened this season, his last Premiership goal came against Liverpool for Aston Villa in the penultimate game of last season. Charlie Adam looks monotonously slow and seems to only score deflected efforts from outside the box and doesn't assist like he did for Blackpool last year. Jordan Henderson may yet become a top player, but at the moment it's way too much too soon for a lad that would have been better suited to developing for 2 more seasons at Sunderland before a move to a bigger club. Jay Spearing, clearly nothing more than a squad player cannot fill Lucas' boots and looks like he's put his own pair on the wrong feet at times with his wayward passing and awkward lunges. What happened to Maxi Rodriguez? Who knows? With Bellamy and Gerrard (Liverpool's only real midfield forces) injured or too old to consistently perform you can see why they won't finish in the top 4 this year.

Liverpool's penalty taking this season show's just how inefficient in front of goal they are. 6 from 10 penalties missed in the league this season with 5 different takers, and that doesn't include the near horror show of last weekends Carling Cup shoot out. Dirk Kuyt after having his initial effort well saved should have buried the rebound but seemed more focused on Jordan Henderson coming in behind him than smashing the ball home. How long till they give Pepe Reina the responsibility? Surely he can take a decent spot kick. While on the subject of Reina, I don't remember him having a 'good' game in goal for Liverpool all season. Wojciech Szczesny his opposite number was in fine form on Saturday and kept his side in it. Reina on the other hand was only called into action 3 times, he saved once and failed to react to the other 2. The second Robin Van Persie strike was a side foot volley from 12 yards to his near post, something a goal keeper of his caliber is expected to save, and on the day something that his opposite number would have made look routine.

Arsenal other than their striker and goalkeeper were poor again. Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny flatter to deceive. Vermaelen has a big reputation, but like Chelsea's David Luiz I think it's more to do with his skill at scoring goals rather than preventing them. Koscielny's own goal on Saturday gets worse every time you see it, and you wonder how much better Arsenal would be with a half-cut Tony Adams playing at the back with knackered Steve Bould! Their midfield was over-run and Arteta was out of sorts giving the ball away easier than I'd ever seen him even before he got knocked out after an accidental collision with Henderson. But for all their shortfalls this season they have one shining light of outstanding quality, Robin Van Persie. RVP, fitter, stronger, hungrier and more deadly than ever is simple having a career defining year. The Arsenal faithful sing 'He scores when he wants, he scores when he wants' and he obviously want's to score a lot as his record in front of goal is frightening. 25 goals in 27 league games. Without him Arsenal could be anywhere in the league, but certainly no where near as high as they are now. RVP loves London, and the club, that's no secret, but without Champions League football next season you can see him leaving with a host of top European clubs willing to part with mega cash for his services. Arsenal may well make it into the Champions League next season, but without strengthening this summer they will struggle to get through the group stages and then face being humbled in the first knock out round like this season, something that RVP will be mindful of when making his decision this summer. He is too good for Arsenal at the moment, and on a different level to the rest of the team in terms of ability and aptitude. Wenger might finally have to dip into their record profits to sign some world class support for their world class striker. If he was in red on Saturday he would have had at least 4, but instead in blue, settled for 2.

Tottenham did their best impersonation of Liverpool on Sunday against United. They hustled and out-worked United in midfield, created some good opportunities in front of goal but lacked the killer instinct and then went to sleep at the back leaving their most dangerous strikers free to head home easy goals. It was classic United in north London. They played poorly, didn't produce much, but ended up comfortable 3-1 victors. Like Arsenal they have one outstanding goal threat, Wayne Rooney. Rooney marked (or not marked in this case) by Kyle Walker at a corner powered a header past a static Brad Friedel to snatch the lead before half time. One chance, one goal, RVP style. In the second half, the provider of the first goal, Ashley Young topped of a great week for him personally when he added to his International goal at Wembley with a technically beautiful brace at White Hart Lane. The first a smart right foot volley after a sharp counter attack, the second a trademark curling effort from the edge of the box when the Spurs defenders continually backed off. It was daylight robbery. The Manchester club did what they have done so well in the past, not played well but got a result. That is the epitome of top class game management. Don't give up any silly goals, ride your luck at times, but then make quality decisions and execute excellence when the chance presents itself, something United and Arsenal did superbly, and Liverpool and Tottenham need to learn to do.

It's an all Manchester affair for the title race, with a possible title decider between United and City in late April and with Chelski sacking AVB to no great surprise, Arsenal could even catch Spurs to get into the automatic CL place of 3rd as Chelsea seem certain to slip up and out of contention.

The Carling Cup Final

They say it's not important, but 'they' aren't in the final, and regardless of its reputation the Carling Cup is a very useful competition for many reasons.  Yes, the big boys don't play full strength squads and see it as an opportunity to blood some youngsters, and yes there is rarely capacity crowds to watch the games, and yes no one gets too excited about it. But, regardless of all this, and the negativity that surrounds the Carling (previously the Football League, Milk,  Littlewoods Challenge, Rumbelows, Coca-Cola, and Worthington) Cup, this is still the first 'real' (Community Shield excluded) competition of the season to be won and both Liverpool and Cardiff will give it their all this Sunday to walk up the Wembley steps to collect the shiny trophy.

You don't have to go back far to see what makes this competition less fashionable than it's big brother, the FA Cup. Last seasons final can be seen as a bit of a poison chalice.  The winners, Birmingham, were promptly on a downward spiral after picking up the trophy.  A few months after their big day out at Wembley they were relegated from the Premier League, lost their manager to bitter cross-city rivals Aston Villa, set about selling the majority of their cup final squad (I think it's up to 14 now that have jumped ship) and saw their owner, Carson Yeung, facing charges of money laundering in Hong Kong. All-in-all not a great turn of fortunes for the boys in blue.  Giving the Birmingham support the option before the game of losing that day and staying in the Premiership, keeping McCleish and the squad together you may have got a lot of takers, but in hindsight, winning that day and the events that followed probably weren't such a bad thing.


-The Carling Cup was a highlight of the season and a great day out for all the Birmingham supporters, something that many clubs fans never get to experience.  There is still a magic to walking up Wembley way alongside the opposition support on the big day, and the walk out and down the same route after as winners is a special feeling.
-Alex McCleish is perhaps the most negative manager in the Premiership and the brand of football he instilled is not missed.  Chis Hughton, his replacement has done a remarkable job on domestic and European fronts this season with a completely different set of players and no where near the financial backing McCleish enjoyed.  Their recent FA Cup draw at Stamford Bridge shows how far they've come this season under his unassuming guidance.
-Getting rid of the over-payed playing staff who couldn't cut it in the Premiership has meant consolidating their finances and giving a chance to younger players and academy graduates, something most clubs are afraid to do in their charge for bounce back promotions.
-If they lost they might have done an 'Arsenal'


'Arsenal'.
Last seasons Carling Cup runners-up saw the wheels fall off almost immediately after Obfemi Martins' winner a year ago.  The Gooners downfall trajectory and subsequent crisis is frightening, and enough to make teams not want to make it to Wembley in case history repeats itself and flushes their teams prospects down the gary (Glitter).  It's hard to put a positive spin on what has happened to Arsene Wenger and his club since that defeat, and Kenny Dalglish and his men will be keen not to follow suit.


Talking of suits, it will be the first time Liverpool will appear at 'new' Wembley having last rolled up at the old stadium in those famous cream Armani suits in 1996.  The faux pas wasn't just the Spice boys choice of clobber that day as Eric Cantona volleyed home the winner to send the Reds home empty handed.  Dalglish, and the clubs new owners will be eager to get their first piece of silverware, in this - his first full season back in charge.


Liverpool have been a cup team in the past decade. 2001 saw them win a treble of trophies and the Worthington Cup the first of the three, followed by the FA Cup and then the UEFA Cup (and even later and not part of the treble - The European Super Cup).  Gerard Houiller created a winning mentality in that squad that fell well short in pushing for the title, but gave the club some real success in the form of 3 trophies in one season.  In 2003 Houiller led his men to victory in the League cup again, followed by his successor Rafa Benitez winning the Champions League (and European Super Cup again) in 2005 and then the clubs most recent bit of silverware the FA Cup in 2006.  There was a winning culture at the club.  All of those finals took place across the border at the Millennium stadium in the Welsh capital, Cardiff.  A shame for many fans then, that the cup is now back in London.  Liverpool enjoyed great support and a good record at the Millennium and playing against the home town team this year would have made for an electric atmosphere and pulsating game.  The cup sponsors will be hoping for a same kind of verve in London, but the traveling fans from both sides would have probably chosen the Millennium given the option for location more than anything!


This competition is important for Liverpool.  It's important for them to get back amongst the trophies and bring back that culture of success and confidence that can once more breed through the club and go a long way to speeding up the rebuilding process.  If they do win this cup, then it may give them that extra push and bolt of drive they need to push on in the FA Cup and pip their rivals to 4th place, and the final Champions League spot in the Premiership.  On the flip-side defeat here could take the wind out of their sails and see them tumble down the league and crash out the FA cup as confidence and clout is sucked out of them as it was Arsenal.


Cardiff and their Scottish manager (see previous blog 'McCarthy and the rise of the Scots' for more on our northern bredin and their power in the managerial game) Malky Mckay will have something to say about Liverpool's success on the day.  Although heavy underdogs they will look to last seasons final for inspiration.  For where it fills Liverpool with fear of suffering an defeat, the Bluebirds will be hoping to emulate Birmingham's upset even if it does mean some hard times down the road.  The Welshmen have less to lose.


They can't take trophies away from you, or the memories of a victorious Wembley final, even if it is only the Carling Cup.  

'Carlsberg don't do trophies, but if they did, it wouldn't be the League Cup...'
Either way, a win is a win, and all that, and a win is what Liverpool need.

Arse-an-all

It ended 4-0 at the San Siro but the Gooners got out of Italy lightly considering their performance, and they were dangerously close to the kind of collapse that saw them hammered 8-2 by Manchester United at the start of the season. Although the Rossoneri didn't bang that many past Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal this time they could have with Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all conspiring to miss easier opportunities than the chances they did take. The big issue with this game wasn't just that Arsenal were beaten by a better team, because they were, but the consummate ease in which the Italian side turned them over. Milan haven't been in great form themselves of late, they came into this game on the back of one Serie A win in four attempts, they again weren't at their best on Wednesday night, but didn't need to be anywhere near it.  

AC have been criticised in the Italian media for selling on their playmakers and traditional number 10's leaving them with a lack of creativity. The 'architect' Andrea Pirlo was offloaded to Juventus in the Summer and replaced by the 'carpenter' Mark Van Bommel. They have some attacking firepower with Boateng, Zlatan and Robinho but not a lot in terms of creative support.  Arsenal fans will point to their injuries (like usual) and the fact they weren't at full strength without Jack Whilshere amongst more insignificant others. Whilshere is a talent, that is unquestioned, but the hope and responsibility he is going to face when he comes back to full action is unprecedented for a team as well respected of late as Arsenal.  Wilshere watching in the San Siro with the 5,000 Arsenal away fans will have seen the same huge problems everyone did but know that alone, he cannot fix everything. In Wilshere's breakout season he was playing alongside Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, he will now be slid in next to a stalling and overplayed Aarron Ramsey and a useless and aged Tomas Rosicky. Is he the answer? No, he isn't, in fact he probably just another another player that will be developed at Arsenal before moving on for a nominal fee to bigger and better club.  No matter what Whilshere indicates his allegiances to be with his romantic tweets on the club he will surely have look to move on to better himself and his career, because at the moment he finds himself part of the worst Arsenal team in Arsene Wengers tenure.  

Robin Van Persie has almost single handedly kept Arsenal's season alive with his phenomenal form and unbelievable scoring record, but he too will look for a move in the Summer especially after last night's debacle in Italy where he saw old hero Thierry Henry pulled off the bench at half-time to try and salvage an away goal for the men in yellow.  That didn't work.  Henry replaced the dismal Theo Walcott who has be terribly bad this season.  For Henry it was another goodbye to a club he loves, but this second term has been like getting back with an ex-girlfriend for the New York Red Bulls man.  At first it was great but by the end he couldn't wait to get away again, and in this case the ex-girlfriend (Arsenal) needs him much more than he needs her.

That Henry substitution just added to a game that tactically Wenger got all wrong.  He said before the game he wanted his team to be 'audacious'.  Audacious away from home in the first leg of a knock out Champions League game against Italian opposition???  He really may be losing it. The Arsenal fans will remember back to their wonderful 2-0 win 4 years ago, and compare how far they have fallen off since then.  By the end of the game Wenger admitted they "were never in the game" and "poor", and that was putting it lightly. 

Arsenal are a very average side with big expectations to meet which they probably won't.  Although they currently lay in 4th position in the Premiership if that is still the case at the end of the season it won't be because of Arsenal's superiority it will be due to the lack of consistency from other teams.  Arsenal were once the best team in London, but with the recent rise of Tottenham Hotspur they aren't even the best team in North London. This is arguably one of the worst Premiership seasons in terms of top quality teams and football, we have the big names and the glamour, sure, but there is no sense of the empowered 'invincible's' or the wonderful attacking Manchester United sides of the past reemerging.  The Champions League knock out stages echo this, with the soon to be knocked out Arsenal and a ropey Chelsea squad the only Premiership representatives.

On the night Arsenal lacked leadership, heart, direction and quality and by the end of the game Wenger was slumped in so far back in his chair he almost disappeared, and by the final whistle I bet he wished he had.

 
The comparison between Arsenal's one-sided reports of this game and the game in 2008 tell their own story
2008
2012