Just when it seemed like we are getting into some sort of form and we have gotten all our players fit again, news hits us that Glen Johnson suffered a medial ligament injury to his right knee during the win against Aston Villa.

Now this is not good news at all as Glen could easily be out for up to 3 months. He is going to see a specialist who will determine exactly how long Glen will be out for. It is always tricky with these type of injuries as they can rule a player out for just a week or two or they can be long term.

Glen has received quite a lot of stick from the fans over the last couple of weeks as he scored an own goal against Arsenal and was at fault against Portsmouth. Let has not hide the fact that Glen has some defensive problems but he is a gem when going forward.

The question now is: Who is going to take over at right back if Glen is out for a long time? The obvious candidate is Jamie Carragher. Rafa could move Carra to right back and then partner Skrtel and Agger in the middle. Jamie is not a fan of playing at right back but he has filled in already there this season. I am not a fan of Jamie at right back as he simply does not have the pace to play in that position anymore. That leaves us with Degen and Darby. I am not a fan of Degen at all!! I would much rather see Darby starting ahead of Degen any day. My problem with Degen is along the same lines as Johnson; he is great going forward but can not defend. Degen also has a serious injury problem; he may be fit for one game and then he gets injured and he is out for two months! If only Martin Kelly was fit, he looked great when he played at right back against Lyon this season but injury has forced him to be sidelined.

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Two wins in a row..now that is something as Liverpool fans we have not been used to over the last couple of weeks. After we beat Wolves, I was very worried about facing Aston Villa at Villa Park. Truth be told, we did not play well against Wolves but we still got the win. Last night, we did not play particularly well and I had settled for the draw but we have that lad from sunny Spain, who got the ball and scored again!

I am reading reports this morning where Steven Gerrard is saying Torres is the best striker in the world and I can not disagree with Captain Fantastic. Torres’ goal yesterday in stoppage time was simply brilliant. Here is a guy who had not had many chances during the course of the game but one mistake by the Villa defence and we punished them to take a 1-0 win.

That is the beauty of having a player like Torres in our team. He may do nothing for 90 minutes but give him one sniff at goal and he will score. There is a lot of talk that has been going around that Torres may leave Liverpool if we do not qualify for the Champions League. I am sure Torres himself is rubbishing such speculation and I don’t think it is even going to matter as we ARE going to finish in the top 4.

All we need to do now is get on a run of winning a couple of games and we will be right up that solidifying our top 4 finish. We have Spurs as our next league game and that is going to be a big one! You can almost call it a six pointer as a win for us would close the gap between us and Spurs.

It is a great feeling to actually win! Yesterday we beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park. We all know we have been going through a really tough patch over the last couple of weeks but hopefully yesterdays win will spur the team on to more success as the season goes on.

They say you need a bit of luck in football to be successful and we certainly had lady luck smiling on us at Goodison Park as Mascherano took a long range shot which was deflected into the Everton goal. I am still not sure if Mascherano has been given the goal or it goes down as an own goal, but for the way Mascherano celebrated that goal, I think they should credit it to him.

The turning point of the game must have come when we were one nil up and Everton were putting on the pressure and then Pepe Reina came up with two amazing saves! For me, those saves won us the game. If Everton had leveled it up at 1-1 we may have been in trouble.

Many people do not give Reina the credit he deserves. Yes he has made some mistakes in the past but he has made more telling saves than mistakes during his time at Liverpool. He literally won us the game yesterday but most of the plaudits will go out to the goal scorers, Mascherano and Kuyt.

It is a pity that Reina is only the second choice keeper for Spain. I believe he should be their number as Reina is the best in the business. Not only is his shot stopping brilliant but he can start off an attack with his quick awareness in releasing the ball. I would pick Reina ahead of any other keeper in the game today.

After Reina’s amazing saves yesterday we then went on to seal the game with a goal from Dirk Kuyt. 2-0 and the game was in the bag. I crossed my fingers that the scoreline could remain that way as I was desperate for us to keep a clean sheet.

We have been leaking goals this season and we have conceded the most number of goals in the Premier League from set pieces. What is wrong with our defence?

A lot of people are bringing up the Zonal marking issue again saying that it does not work. But if you recall a ‘goal’ from a corner yesterday that Everton thought they had scored but their player was offside: that showed the benefit of Zonal marking as we do not have players on the posts during corners.

But even as this season has gone, we have not changed tactics in defence as we still play Zonal marking so what has changed from being the best defensive team to being one of the worst if the tactics are the same? The simple answer has to be the personnel we have now. What has changed then? Glen Johnson has come in for Arbeloa, Carra is still there, Agger and / or Skrtel are still there and Insua has now come in ahead of Aurelio and Dossena. So where is the weak link?

Glen Johnson is not the best right back when it comes to defending so could he be the cause? Maybe, he is new to this whole system and as a player he is not too strong defensively. But then again, not too many goals we have conceded have been through his mistakes. On the other hand take a look at Insua. I have been keeping a close eye on him this season and he has made quite a number of costly mistakes. Yes he is still young but he is a full Argentina international now so he has to be the part. My biggest concern with him is that he is just too short. When it comes to defending set pieces he is of not much use to use if the ball is put high in the box (but then again he almost scored with a header yesterday against Everton). His positioning at times has also been questionable. So is Insua the weak link in our defence? I think so.

But with all the problems our back four may have, we still have what I think is the best goalkeeper in the world in Pepe Reina. So if you get past our faulty back four, you still have Reina to deal with.

Dear Liverpool Fans,
We apologise for the lack of activity on OurKop.com over the last month. We have been upgrading our server inorder to meet the demand the fans bring by visiting the website.

We are pleased to announce that all is back online now and the OurKop.com will be blogging again. We hope to have you joining in the discussions we will be having through out the rest of the season. It has been a tough start to the season for Liverpool and it is funny how our slump in form coincides with OurKop.com being offline.

Hopefully now that we are back online, our fortunes can change for the better.

YNWA

In May 1997 a small 17 year old lad scored on his Liverpool debut against Wimbeldon. By the end of the following 1997-1998 season this young man would have successfully taken over from Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s leading goalscorer. He would finish that campaign as the joint top goalscorer in the Premier League with 18 goals. He was acclaimed by his fellow professionals as the PFA Young Player of the Year. He became England’s youngest international since the turn of the century and catapulted himself into the England 1998 World Cup Team. He scored a wondergoal against Argentina to firmly place himself on the international stage. And the rest they say is history.

This small lad, as you may have guessed by now, was Michael Owen, the Liverpool Legend. In the eight years that spanned his Liverpool career he was the inspiration for many great Liverpool moments. The goals just kept coming season after season (160 scored in 300 appearances). There were hat-tricks, winners and stunners galore. There was a Ballon d’Or in 2001. Owen was the best in the whole of Europe! There were cup victories (5 in total) and who will ever forget that treble year (2001) and the FA Cup. With seven minutes to go till what seemed inevitable defeat Owen pounced to score from eight yards. Then miraculously with only two minutes to go till extra time Owen did what Owen does best. With an electric quick turn of pace that left Adams and Dixon in his wake he was one-on-one with David Seaman. And as the ball rolled across the line moments later Owen was our hero and our Legend and Liverpool were FA Cup WInners.

Three seasons later Liverpool had failed to win the League under Gerard Houllier. The Chairman turned to Rafa Benitez to bring hope of a league title back to Anfield. With Gerrard, Owen, a new manager and hopefully a few new players (maybe even Aimar) many a Red, including myself, was dreaming of a strong title challenge.

Who is to know what happened during that summer. What thoughts went through his head? All I know is on the eve of the start of the season Liverpool’s top goalscorer for the previous 8 seasons shocked us all by leaving home. The entire affair did not sit well. He had refused to play during the Champions League qualifiers. He had waited to the very last moment to make up his mind, leaving Liverpool little time to find a replacement. And in “forcing” a move through his actions, added to the fact he had only 10 months remaining on his contract, one of the most lethal strikers in Eurpoe, a former Ballon d’Or winner and our top goal scorer moved to Real Madrid for £8 million plus Antonio Nunez (who was later sold for a paltry estimated £2 million). How could he?

To add insult to injury Owen has since his time at Real Madrid snubbed two opportunities to return to his home, opting first to go to Newcastle United and then to Manchester United instead of coming back to Liverpool. And it is the last switch that has inspired this article. Jamie Carragher was recently quoted in Sky Sports Magazine as having said Owen will likely receive a “frosty” reception on his return to Anfield on the 25th of October in Manchester United’s colours. To my heart he will have earned the boos he is likely to receive with his every touch.

Watching the Manchester Derby a few weeks back it hurt to see Owen celebrate a winning goal for the wrong Reds. In a couple of day’s time the reality of the fall of a Liverpool Legend will hit home literally. With every move since the summer of 2004 Owen has drifted further away and fallen greater depths from the affections of the Anfield faithful. The fall of a Legend is nearly complete. A goal against Liverpool, at the Kop end, for Manchester United will see him hit rock bottom. I hope that will not become the final chapter in the story of Michael Owen, the Former Liverpool Legend.

I could not believe that was Liverpool I was watching last night in our Champions League match against Fiorentina! It was a totally opposite performance from that we put on on the weekend against Hull. I have just been reading what Rafa said after last nights game and he is saying that he has never seen Liverpool play as badly as they did in the first half. I agree 100% with Rafa. Our first half performance was shocking and the second half was not much better!

So what when wrong? What stood out for me was the poor displays from Johnson and Insua as the wing backs. Going forward they were slightly okay but their defending was a joke! People have questioned Johnson’s ability to defend and I have stood by him but last night he let me down as he was found wanting when it cam to defend.

Fiorentina could attack down either of our flanks at will. Insua had the worst game I have ever seen him play in a Red shirt as he was exposed terribly by Fiorentina. What also really worries me about Insua is his height. They say he is the shortest player in the whole of the Premiership, I do not know how true that is. All it takes is for a team with a tall right winger and they just have to launch high balls into the box in Insua’s direction and we will be screwed.

Rafa opted to start with Aurelio in the middle of the park with Lucas. This did not work at all. As much as I am a fan of Aurelio, I would much rather see him in the left back position where he can go forward in whip in some telling crosses. We do not see the best of him in the middle. I will not slate Lucas today as he had another bad game but the whole team just did not pitch up for the game so I can not lay all the blame on Lucas this time. Just that he missed a wide open header which a player of his calibre should have converted.

Where was Gerrard in the first half? I asked myself that question as I could not see Captain Fantastic. He seemed to drift out of the game and never really got a foot hold on the game. Torres had another off day as he was marked brilliantly by the Italians.

I guess this is a game we have to quickly forget about especially with Chelsea coming up on Sunday. I can not see us playing that badly on Sunday because if we do we could be on the receiving end of a humiliating scoreline.

But all is not lost in the Champions League. Yes we lost 2-0 to Fiorentina but we still have four more games to play and I am sure we will still qualify for the knock out rounds.

Liverpool are in Italy tonight to take on Fiorentina in our second Champions League game of the season. We did not do too well in our first match in the Champions League but the team has run into some great form in the last couple of games and I am confident the lads can do well tonight.

Trips to Italy are never easy and we can expect a very hostile atmosphere in the stadium but it should be nothing new to the guys.

I have not watched any of Fiorentina this season as to be honest I hardly watch Italian football anymore. But I see that they do possess Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu. But even with these two players we should be too strong for them.

Looking at us, we make the trip to Italy without Mascherano. He has picked up a hamstring strain and has not traveled with the team. I feel this could be a big blow to us as away games such as these are where Mascherano should be the first name on the team sheet. But hopefully he will recover from this strain in time for the Chelsea game on Sunday. I would much rather have him fit for Sunday than him playing tonight.

Yossi Benayoun is also struggling with an injury but he has made the trip with the squad. I am sure if he is not 100% fit, Rafa will not risk him and rather have him ready for Sunday.

On paper this looks like a tricky game for us but it is the kind of game we need to win so that we do not have to fight to make the knock out stages of the Champions League. I wonder what kind of a starting lineup Rafa will go with tonight? Will he have one eye on the Sunday game and thus decide to leave out some key players? I think Rafa should go with the strongest squad available and make sure we get the 3 points and then we can look ahead to Chelsea after the game.

My starting lineup prediction: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Riera, Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, Benayoun, Torres.

Reports have been surfacing since last week that Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Saud is set to purchase a 50% stake in Liverpool for between 200 to 350million pounds. Now there has been no official news yet from Liverpool about this deal but apparently the Prince has told Saudi newspapers that the deal is almost complete. The only thing we can be sure of is that the Prince was at Anfield on Saturday to watch our 6-1 win over Hull.

Now, let’s say that this deal is true and it does happen, the Prince will own 50% of the club and Hicks will own 25% and Gillett 25%. So we will have THREE people ‘running’ the club. Having just Hicks and Gillett was bad enough but now who knows what the Saudi Prince will want to do to the club? I just hope that the Prince will come in with a lot of cash to take us out of the financial problems we are facing. It would be nice to be able to purchase one or two top class players with the cash.

What I do hope for is that the Prince gets his 50% stake and then has a plan to take total control of the club in the next couple of months. I would rather have one owner than three. I can just imagine the board room fights that could happen with three owners!

Having watched our 6-1 demolition of Hull on Saturday, I was generally pleased with the result and it goes to show that we are headed in the right direction. Yes, it may only have been Hull but lets not forget that we dropped two points at home against Hull last season.

Truthfully, Hull are looking terrible compared to the way the were playing last season but it still takes a good effort to score 6 goals in the Premiership today regardless of who the opposition is.

We can not look back at this game without talking about Fernando Torres. I can not believe that there were some people questioning Torres’ ability at the beginning of the season saying that he is not that great a striker coz he is not scoring the goals. He has quickly silenced the critics by doing what he does best…scoring. His hatrick on Saturday was world class as all the goals were well taken. Now that he has run into a patch of form I just hope he remains fit coz if he does he will continue to bang in the goals.

For me the talking point I want to look at about the Hull game is the way we set out our stall during the game. Stevie G dropped back into central midfield to partner Lucas and this allowed Riera to play on the left, Yossi on the right and Torres operating upfront with Kuyt.

This was a very attack minded move by Rafa and it is clear he has learnt from his mistakes last season and he has decided to go all out and attack these smaller teams at Anfield. There is no way I can see Rafa going out with a starting lineup like that on Sunday against Chelsea. I expect to see Rafa reverting back to starting with Mascherano and Lucas in the center of the park against Chelsea and Gerrard playing behind Torres.

It may be a shock to most of us that Rafa is deciding to start with Mascherano on the bench at times this season but I am very happy with this tactic, especially when we playing at home. Mascherano does not offer us much going forward so rather have Lucas in there and pulling Gerrard back into the middle.

What are your thoughts with regards to the way Rafa is picking his team these days?

OurKop Podcast #1

Hey there everybody, it’s just me today in this first pod which is a bit of a shot in the dark here so bear with me if you would.

Comments are welcome here in the thread, and enjoy all the football today.

The podcast home page btw is at:

http://ourkop.mypodcast.com/