Following on from Rocky’s finely researched post about the curse of the Carling Cup:
Another lunch time fixture, another outing for our dreadful blue away kit and a tough fixture.
I am from the generation which remembers Anfield as the toughest fixture of the season. Win up there and you were a high quality team, you had to be because for many, many years Liverpool were supreme: The Liverpool side of the late 80?S was the best team ever seen on British soil until the arrival of The Invincibles.
However, times move on and this Liverpool side despite having been expensively assembled is nowhere near good enough to win the PL (not that we are!), they are as unpredictable as a Nik Bendnter finish. Scraping past the very average Cardiff is, proof of their weaknesses.
The hugely expensive purchases of recent years have shown that money cannot buy success – our record signing is Wiltord at ?16m approx; in the last few seasons the Scouse have bought Aquillani, Torres, Downing, Saurez, Mascherano, Carroll, Henderon, Johnson and Keane, all of whom cost more than Wiltord. And what have they won? The CC. How many times have the been in the CL? Not enough for the investment.
However, they remain a potent force at Anfield and it must be remembered they beat us at THOF. They are unbeaten this season at home and yet have won only 4 out of 12.
Liverpool have some injury problems with Agger out but Stevie Me is likely to have recovered from his half hour for England. Carroll may be a laughing stock but we are prone to concede goals from players of his stature. Had Mr Wenger had his way Reina would be playing for the good guys, he remains the best GK in the Prem (IMO). Their defence is shaky without Agger. Midfield will be where the game is won and lost. The impression I get from L’pool blogs is that Adam has not been a success, nor has Henderson and the loss of Lucas has been costly. Which brings us to Liverpools’s most potent weapon, Suarez.
Is there a less popular player in English football? It cannot be denied Suarez is blessed with huge talent but his cheating and demeanor are appalling – he is the new El Hadj Diouf. As to the racial abuse case: Dalgleish’s stand and the general support from the fans was shameful, in particular at a club with the proud heritage of LFC. There is no possibility Mr Wenger and The Arsenal would have supported the player in this case. It has harmed the standing of a great club. Will Liverpool sell Suarez in summer as I hope would be the case at Arsenal – probably not, just look at the way MC have handled Tevez. One insincere apology from the media dept and all is well …. shame on them.
Arsenal have the usual injury problems. There are doubts about key players: Vermaelen, Rosicky and RvP, without whom we will struggle. Diaby is back in the squad but is unlikely to play.
Benayoun played very well last weekend and it is hard to drop him but I believe Gervinho’s pace will cause the Scouse problems. Mozart is on his best run of form in his Arsenal career and will surely start ahead of the fit again Ramsey.
Inventor from Liverpool: Mr Frank Hornby. Inventor of Boys Toys Extraordinaire. Not just the Hornby train sets but also Meccano and my personal favorite, Dinky toys. At one time Meccano was the most popular toy in the world.
