First of all, Porto played excellently. Smart wide play, quick passing, and great crossing, all of which threw a wrench in Liverpool’s attacking flow.

Second of all, I think Hyypia was a wise choice, mostly because while he was at fault for the penalty, he more then made up for it with his positioning throughout the match. Most obviously was Quaresma’s goal opportunity, but he was solid at the back, and didn’t let the Porto strikers do much of anything. Quaresma was amazing all match, did go to ground too easily, but provided good crosses that weren’t utilized at all.

One good thing out of this match for Liverpool was how well Aurélio did. He defended well, and changed the match for Liverpool as soon as he came on. Babel and Pennant didn’t do much at all except spurn possession and it’s clear that while he’s talented, Babel needs more time to settle in and grow at Liverpool. Pennant’s second yellow was harsh, but he was charging around the pitch, giving the Portuguese reasons to go to ground.

Masch tore up the center midfielders, while Gerrard didn’t do much. As Andy Grey kept repeating, playing four matches in two weeks for Liverpool on an injured toe hasn’t helped Gerrard’s cause, however he did show leadership at the end as Liverpool drove forward and created some of our best chances.

We escaped with a draw but could have done worse. At least we didn’t draw to Rosenborg…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Simple enough premise, Crouch has to leave Liverpool. I don’t think Crouch has been the root of all our problems, in fact he’s gotten Liverpool out of quite a few situations our problem has put us in. But as our first five starts have shown, we have remedied the problem. We are creative, we can finish, and our defense is still a brick wall.

Now, yesterday we had a relapse, we looked slow up front, clueless in the middle, and due to our constant, futile, attempts at getting forward, weak at the back. There was no link-up play, upfront or otherwise, and this was mostly due to our strategy of lobbing the ball forward for Crouch and hoping he’d do something with it. Usually Crouch is most effective from crosses or simply just passing to the feet, but often times Liverpool resort to a primitive strategy over all those things.

When Crouch is in form he’s a beauty to watch, ever see a giraffe stride down the field and do an overhead kick? No? Well it’s like that. However, what he takes from our game hurts Liverpool far more then the occasional tap-in or overhead kick helps us. And with our midfield scoring, Torres starting well, and even Voronin showing a knack for goal we won’t really miss him.

Hopefully Liverpool can sell him in the January transfer window, buy a young prospect or promote from our own ranks and enjoy the form we showed against Toulouse, Sunderland, Chelsea, and Derby.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

After four matches, Liverpool sit atop the table with 3 wins and 1 draw. While we deserved more from the Chelsea game, we did ride our luck at Aston Villa. But with the signing of Torres, Liverpool fans seem think they have found the spark they have been lacking since Owens departure.

As impressive our game against Derby was, in terms of flexing our attacking muscles, we need to have a strong showing at Portsmouth to prove we aren’t suffering from the same deficiencies as last year. However with players like Torres and Voronin showing their skill in front of goal, Kuyt will need to start being more selfish on the ball. While he has been immense for Liverpool at battling from one end of the pitch to the other, he hasn’t shown his poachers instinct that was so prevalent at Feyenoord. Voronin, however, has shown a keen predatory sense, and an ability to challenge balls in key areas and create opportunities.

One area that has improved vastly from last season has been Liverpool’s wing play. With Rafa bringing in Babel, Pennant’s has been out to impress, and impress he has. A recommendation from Rafa for an international call-up doesn’t seem too spectacular, but from a manager who hands out compliments like the Glazers throw around money, it’s huge.

One area that thankfully hasn’t changed has been our defense. With Carragher out Hyypia has shown that what he lacks in pace he makes up in intelligence, and that he still can get stuck in. Agger, Arbeloa, and Finnan have been so consistent that I almost can’t recall a match in which they’ve been excluded.

To answer the question posed, hope springs eternal, and for Liverpool to stay atop for one more match day would be spectacular, however it’s the beginning of September, and even Everton is at the top of the table. Hopefully we can pester Manchester United and Chelsea up until the last match day and anything more is just icing on the cake.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With another string of international matches, everyone has exactly one week until anything interesting happens in the world of football. Steve McClaren is struggling to put together a terrible side due to injuries, which leaves the rest of us to discuss the state of our clubs. Sadly during this designated time of meditation another topic of discussion is being raised by Sir Bobby Charlton and company.

Sir Bobby seems to believe that England’s youth have been cast aside in favor of foreigners. As much as we’d all like to think this, it is a far too simplistic evaluation of the both the English youth and it’s training system. While the Premiership has experienced an influx of foreign players, they are hardly being brought in to replace the English youth in mass.

Since I am not aware of all the domestic talent in the Premiership I will use the youth talent at Liverpool as an example. Both Stephen Warnock and Neil Mellor came up out of the youth squad with a bit of buzz surrounding them. Neil Mellor managed to score a miraculous goal against Arsenal, and Stephen Warnock replaced Kewell for a spell. However, while they both had the fitness levels and strength to compete in the Premiership, they did not have that creative spark that separated themselves from the most average of players.

While the youth training in England is second to none, they can’t seem to magically manifest that spark that creates the future stars that we all so desperately want. Sadly, the very people that could pick-out and develop players with that extra bit wouldn’t be anywhere near the Premiership if Sir Bobby had his way. Would Arsene Wenger be at Arsenal if you told he could have only 3 of his foreign gems? It’s the same with Rafa’s Spaniards, and Jose’s galaticos.

The simple fact of the matter is that just like in economics, bringing in foreign players would breed competition and help lower the rising prices of domestic players. Despite all this negative spin on the foreign, positive ideas have been put forth. Rafa has suggested that, like in Spain, the youth and reserve teams play in the lower leagues allowing them to play more games at a higher levels, even Sir Alex has vocalized a dissatisfaction with the amount of restriction attached to the youth team.

Bottom line, the misplaced fears of agings stars will hopefully be drowned out by forward thinking managers, profit driven owners, and fans who are enjoying how this little league is looking.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News