White Suburban Punk

After a 0-0 draw with Stoke City at Anfield, Liverpool reached its lowest point in the new Kenny Daglish era with an embarrassing 3-1 loss at Bolton. Bolton, who sat in 19th place in the Premiership at the time. King Kenny’s latest reign is now one year old, and he was spot on in ripping the players publicly after the game. He said that the effort wasn’t there and looking ahead to matches with Man City and Man U was no excuse. Some in the media questioned whether Kenny’s time was up, claiming that the players had tuned the manager out. But the players responded with three fantastic performances.

Leading 1-0 after the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinal with Manchester City, Liverpool returned home and twice came back from one goal deficits to tie the Premiership leaders, 2-2, and advance to the final at Wembley against Cardiff on February 26. Liverpool played a great game overall, even though they were lucky to be awarded a penalty late in the first half, which Steven Gerrard converted to make it 1-1. Man City went ahead again in the second half on a bang bang goal from Edin Dzeko, but Craig Bellamy equalized against his former team and Liverpool hung on, ending a 16-year wait for a return to Wembley.

Four days later, Liverpool faced their arch rivals in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Anfield. In a wildly entertaining game in front of a raucous crowd, Dirk Kuyt sent the Reds through three minutes from time when he snuck behind a sleeping Patrice Evra of Mancester United. Evra, whose accusations against Luis Suarez for racism resulted in an eight game suspension, was booed every time he touched the ball, and it was extra sweet for the Liverpool faithful that he cost them the game. Both Manchester teams are now eliminated from both domestic cups. The FA Cup fifth round takes place the weekend of February 18. With 16 teams remaining, Liverpool will host Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion, a team Liverpool knocked out of the Carling Cup in September. Brighton advanced by upsetting Newcastle.

Three short days after the win against Man U, Liverpool went back on the road to face Wolverhampton in a Premier League match. In an inspired effort, they won 3-1 behind goals from Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy, and Dirk Kuyt. Carroll played perhaps his best game in a Liverpool jersey, and the team look to have finally figured out how to play without Suarez. Fortunately, that was the last match of his suspension. He will return for Monday’s visit to Anfield from third place Tottenham.

Liverpool did nothing of note in the January transfer window, which closed yesterday. They apparently approached Manchester City about a swap of Andy Carroll for Carlos Tevez, but nothing came of it. Is it a coincidence that Carroll then played his best game in a year? Perhaps letting that story leak out was the most brilliant move they could’ve made.

From the lowest point to the highest in ten days. Such is Liverpool football. After the home game against Tottenham, they travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. It seems like every single game is massive.

Liverpool sit in seventh place in the Barclays Premier League as of today, with 35 points through 21 games. They trail Arsenal by one point for fifth and Chelsea by five points for fourth. They are in the Carling Cup semifinals and hold a 1-0 lead over Manchester City, with the return leg next Wednesday at Anfield. And in the FA Cup, they have reached the 4th Round (32 teams left) and will face Manchester United at Anfield on Saturday, January 28.

In the big picture, the results so far aren’t too bad, certainly better than where they were at this time last year. The Premiership results have been the most disappointing, obviously. They have conceded only 18 goals, second in the league behind Man City (16), but have scored just 24 goals, by far the lowest in the top seven. League leaders Man City have scored 57.

Andy Carroll has scored just two league goals this year, while Luis Suarez leads the team with five. However, Suarez is currently sitting out with an astounding eight game suspension for allegedly racist remarks made to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra earlier in the year.  I wonder what Suarez’s grandfather (who is black) thinks of that.

Injury-wise, they lost midfielder Lucas for the year on a devastating knee injury. He had been having a very good season. Jay Spearing has gotten a bit more playing time in his absence. On the bright side, Skipper Steven Gerrard is finally healthy. He ended up hardly playing at all in the 2011 calendar year, but he is back in the starting 11 and has made his presence felt.

Liverpool’s home form has been dreadful, with four wins and seven draws in 11 games. They have tied Sunderland, Man U, Norwich, Swansea, Man City, Blackburn, and Stoke at Anfield. There are rumors the club is on the hunt for another striker in the January transfer window, but it would really take a colossal signing to make a significant difference. With Suarez in the lineup, Liverpool seemed to lead the league in unfulfilled scoring chances, but in the last game at home against Stoke, the team failed to even do that. Suarez himself has seemed a bit erratic in his finishing this season, but maybe playing with Gerrard on a consistent basis will bring about an improvement once he returns. It can hardly get much worse.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the club have an excellent chance of winning hardware in the Carling Cup. They are in good shape against Man City, and in the other semifinal, Crystal Palace leads Cardiff, 1-0, so they wouldn’t have to face a huge club at Wembley. They have also been performing well in the FA Cup, and the match against Man U at Anfield will be massive. However, I honestly don’t hold out much hope for the Premiership. It seems like every time they start playing well and get close to the top four, they immediately stumble with another embarrassing draw at home. They’ve dropped so many points already that it seems unlikely they could get on the kind of sustained run of excellent football that would be required to get back into the race. There are 17 league games remaining, though, so they have a lot of time to make up ground.

I have heard exactly zero voices in support of the referee from the US/Slovenia match.  Not only did he disallow the winning goal, but he had several other calls against the US, including giving an erroneous yellow against Robbie Findley for a nonexistent hand ball that will cause him to miss the Algeria game.  This ref’s bank account needs to be closely audited — I wonder if FIFA does that.  Anyway, the US got the draw, and after England’s lackluster performance against Algeria ended in a 0-0 tie, the US and England will go through with wins in their last match.  A big if, however.  The games will be played simultaneously Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands continues to roll.

Celtics:  The Celtics lost a heartbreaker/backbreaker last night, so they’re down in the series, 2-1.  It seems they can win with just two of the Big Four sharp all game, and KG delivered.  Rajon Rondo was great for three quarters, but then disappeared in the fourth.  And of course, they got absolutely nothing from Ray Allen and very little from Paul Pierce due to BS foul trouble.  If just a couple of Ray’s open looks had fallen, it might’ve been a different game.

Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish has removed himself from the committee to choose Liverpool’s next manager, indicating that he may think he is the best candidate.  I hope that’s how it works out.  He’s a Liverpool legend and he can be a caretaker until the sale of the club goes through.

Big 10:  It looks like Jim Delany has maneuvered a gun to the head of Notre Dame.  If they join the Big 10, and only them, the current national conference structure and the BCS will apparently remain intact.  Supposedly Notre Dame would join on the condition that they were the only school.  If they refuse to join, the story goes that the Big 10 will go to a 16 team superconference, the Pac 10 will raid and destroy the Big 12, and the SEC will raid and destroy the ACC.  Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Notre Dame, and a bunch of ACC and Big East schools would appear to be left out in the cold, with speculation that Notre Dame would then have a difficult time filling their schedule against teams from the superconferences.  I’m not sure I buy that, but a move to superconferences would at least theoretically increase the chances of an eventual move to a playoff, which could perhaps leave Notre Dame and the other remaining rejects out.

As a Big 10 fan, what do I want?  Sure, I would much prefer a playoff to the BCS, but just aesthetically I would rather have only Notre Dame join the Big 10 than five other schools that include Rutgers.  Football scheduling would be a mess in a 16 team league, where each school would not play seven other schools, while in a 12 team league each team would still not play three other schools.  That could result in a questionable system for a playoff, where you’re not even really sure who the best teams in each conference are. 

The bottom line is that there is no perfect system for football.  There’s just too many teams and there is a limit on how many games they can play.  I want my school to have the opportunity to win the Big 10 and go on to play the best teams from the other conferences.  Some kind of playoff system is preferable to the BCS, but in order for that to happen, we have to go to superconferences?  It doesn’t seem like a great choice to me.  Kind of reluctantly, I guess I have to fall on the side of adding five teams if that will lead to a playoff, which could provide the added benefit of screwing Notre Dame.  And actually, couldn’t all the rejects create their own conference?  The Big Reject Conference:  Notre Dame, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Colorado or Baylor, BC, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, and South Florida.  But that’s 18.  It makes my head spin.  I’ll just have to sit back and watch the fireworks.

Photo from Boston.com

Rafa Benitez’s six year run as Liverpool manager has ended “by mutual consent.”  His statement: 

“It is very sad for me to announce that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.

“I’ll always keep in my heart the good times I’ve had here, the strong and loyal support of the fans in the tough times and the love from Liverpool. I have no words to thank you enough for all these years and I am very proud to say that I was your manager.

“Thank you so much once more and always remember: You’ll never walk alone.”

Sad, but I guess it was inevitable.  Still, I wonder why it took so long.  Rafa will probably go to Italy and take over Inter Milan for Jose Morinho, who was named manager of Real Madrid.  Liverpool put no timetable on the search for a new manager, but the speculation should be fun.  Maybe the New England Revolution’s Steve Nicol? 

Photo from Liverpool Echo

Tottenham Hotspur clinched the final Champions League spot in the English Premier League with a 1-0 win over Manchester City, with the goal scored by Abigail Clancy’s fiancee, Peter Crouch.  Liverpool have clinched a Europa League spot as the seventh place team.  They can finish no higher than sixth.  Rafa Benitez has begun a series of meetings with Liverpool’s top brass, but there is still no word on transfer funds available or the sale of the team.  It does appear that Benitez will be staying with the club, however.

Hull City, Burnley, and Portsmouth will be relegated to the League Championship.  Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion have been promoted, and the playoffs begin Saturday for the final promotion spot.  Sixth place Blackpool will play a home and home with third place Nottingham Forest, and fifth place Leicester City will play fourth place Cardiff City.

Chelsea will clinch the Premiership title with a win at home against Wigan.  Manchester United plays at Stoke City trailing Chelsea by one point.  Everyone’s final game is at the same time Sunday, 11:00 Eastern in the US.

The Red Sox swept Orange County in a four game set and everything appears to finally be coming together, just in time for a visit from the yankees.  That game is actually third fiddle in the Boston area tonight, however, as the Bruins look to sweep the Flyers in Philly and the Celtics host the Cavs in game 3.  The loss of David Krejci could be devastating for the B’s, as he had been superb in the playoffs and the team really relies on his creativity in the offensive end.  If the Bruins can wrap it up tonight, they could get some significant time off, as Montreal tied up their series with Pittsburgh, 2-2.  Ole!

The pitching matchups for the Sox series are: Josh Beckett vs. Phil Hughes Friday night, Clay Buchholz vs. CC Sabathia 3:10 Saturday, and Jon Lester vs. AJ Burnett 8:00 Sunday.

Liverpool crashed out of the Europa League last week after they beat Atletico Madrid, 2-1, at Anfield, but lost on aggregate on away goals.  The Atletico goal in the 12th minute of extra time killed them.  Yet another stunning disappointment on the season.

Sunday, they hosted Chelsea in the Premiership, trying to keep their slim hopes alive for fourth place.  In a humiliating, painful, soulless game, they lost, 2-0, closing the home season.  It was relatively even until the 33rd minute, when Steven Gerrard gave the ball away to Didier Drogba in perhaps the worst play of Gerrard’s career.  After a Frank Lampard goal in the 54th minute, Liverpool looked completely beaten and probably deserved to lose by more than two.

So they’re out of the Europa League and eliminated from any chance for the top 4 and the Champions League.  They have already clinched a Europa League spot for next year, so this weekend’s game at Hull has no significance whatsoever, they’re just playing out the string.  Rafa Benitez is supposed to meet with the club’s chairman next week to find out what the hell is going on.  Reports out of Italy suggest that Juventus want an answer from Rafa soon, but things may be complicated because of his long term contract with Liverpool.  There doesn’t appear to be any imminent news from the investor/ownership/sale of the team front, so who knows how much money (if any) they will have for the transfer budget for the summer.  These are dark days at Anfield.

Liverpool doomed Burnley to relegation Sunday with a 4-0 win, backed by two goals from Captain Steven Gerrard.  He has admitted that he hasn’t been at his best this year, but facing a desparate squad on the road, he came through in a big way.  You could tell he smelled blood in the first half, as he created and just missed three scoring chances in just a couple of minutes through sheer effort, something we definitely haven’t seen enough of this year.  Neither side was able to cash in any chances in an entertaining first half.

Burnley nearly took the lead in the first minute of the second when Pepe Reina and surprise starter 19 year old Daniel Ayala confused each other and nearly allowed a goal to Steven Fletcher.  It was a strange move by Rafa Benitez to leave Sotirios Kyrgiakos on the bench in favor of Ayala, who started just his second ever game, especially on the road (where Liverpool had not won in 2010) and against a team that was desperate to score goals.  Shortly after that near goal, Dirk Kuyt left the game with a calf injury, leaving Ryan Babel as the lone striker (David Ngog missed the game with a back injury).  Right when things started to look bleak and the team really needed to show some heart, up stepped Gerrard.  His first goal at 52 minutes came off a rather lucky deflection, but his second, seven minutes later, was a classic Gerrard power blast after he picked up a loose ball.  Two relatively innocuous plays, but it was 2-0.  At 72 minutes, Burnley proved it would not be their day (or season) when Fletcher knocked one off the post, and two minutes later Alberto Aquilani sent a beautiful pass to Maxi Rodriguez, who had a clinical finish and his well-earned first goal for Liverpool.  He has played fantastic lately, by the way.

Ryan Babel finished the scoring in extra time when he went in on a breakaway on which it didn’t look like he was onside, but Liverpool will take it, as goal differential could be important here at the end of the season. 

Liverpool host Atletico Madrid at Anfield Thursday in the second leg of the Europa League semifinals, trailing 1-0.  The final home game of the year will be Sunday against Chelsea, with Liverpool in the painful position of being able to help Manchester United in their title run.  Chelsea currently lead by one point.  Liverpool has not yet been eliminated from the top 4 – we’re not dead yet!  They obviously need to win their final two league games and hope that Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Manchester City drop points.  Incidentally, Liverpool currently lead all three of those teams on goal difference.

In ownership news, there is a Chinese businessman who is currently examining the books and says he wants Rafa Benitez to stay if he purchases the team.  He claims he is in fierce competition with Middle East interests for the club.  Some rumors have suggested that Bob Kraft might be interested, but I think he’s a better owner in a league with a salary cap than what is currently demanded at the top of European football, so hopefully he stays out.  Liverpool fans have had enough of American owners, anyway.

Photo from Liverpool Echo