Liverpool stumble...AGAIN!

What a horrible performance from them. A team like Liverpool should be carving up teams like Besiktas with ease.

Liverpool were unlucky to go behind through another freak goal. And yet again, Sami Hyypia is credited with another own goal. He must be praying he doesn't make it a hattrick on Sunday against Arsenal.

Generally, i think Liverpool played much better than their last 2-3 games. They actually had 55%-60% of possesion, playing away from home. The only thing lacking was a final touch. Gerrard was trying too much, but again, was the only one looking threating. Babel had a good game.

The front 2 pairing of Kuyt and Voronin looked sparkless and unimaginative. There was lots of effort and running, but no real quality. I'm sure a lot will be made of the decision to only bring Crouch on for the last 10 minutes.

The Champions League door is almost slammed shut on Liverpool. And to think, Benitez was boldly claiming a few weeks back that they were aiming for a quick 12 points to get this first phase out of the way. Don't count you eggs before it hatches, eh Rafa?

Celtic suspended, Dida suspended for overacting

Celtic have been fined £25,000 and Dida the 'over actor' suspended for 2 games. I think Milan and their Oscar nominee got off lightly.

Celtic won't mind the fine, as it was their inability to control the security of the stadium resulted in one fan running around amok during last weeks Champions league game. It was this very fan than ran amok, and appear to give Dida a 'sniper' slap.

A sniper slap is one of those rare forms of fan based slap attacks that only begin to affect the victim after about 5-6 seconds.

Don't know what i'm talking about? Missed the whole incident? Well then, thank your lucky stars for YouTube baby!

Dida, the Brazillian overactor

Sometimes i wonder, are footballers a moronic bunch? Don't they know that their every move during a game is scrutinized by media from almost every angle. Nowdays, there isn't a single blade of grass that isn't covered by camera. If i was Dida, i know i'd feel like a moron. I'd also feel very lucky that UEFA didn't make a bigger effort to clamp down on other moronic behaviour by fellow players (e.g. diving, faking, grabbing other players balls during corner kicks) by making an example out of me.

I wish i was a friend of Dida though. I know in this kind of situation, he will need friends like me. Friends that will continue to laugh, mock and taunt him for his stupidity.

Ah, 'footebol', tis why we love thee.

Liverpool can't pass for nuts

Yes, the team that pioneered that pass and move concept. The team that conquered all by out passing most other opponents. Yes, its a sham to see the new Liverpool.

I thought perhaps the last game against EPL game was a blip. Their passing there was average and lackluster. I expected a much better performance from Liverpool against Marseille.

I should have just watched the Valencia v Chelsea game.

Marseille totally outplayed Liverpool, at Anfield no less. Can't remember the last time Liverpool were outplayed by a lesser team. Not only that, Liverpool was happy to not even try to keep possesion. Did they ever string 3-4 consecutive passes in the Marseille half? Maybe on one or two occasions only.

Credit to Marseille though. They had a full uninterrupted 10 days to prepare for this game and the did their homework very well. Cisse and Zenden probably contributed with a lot of inside information as well.

Sissoko, geez, what an infuriating player. He played as the holding midfielder, but was completely useless. Above all, he constantly lost possession and never made a decent forward pass.

Remember my previous post when i said Liverpool aren't out of winning the EPL yet? Well, i take it back. In fact, i am going to take it back and further add insult and say Liverpool's not gonna win anything this season.

Highlights: Steaua 0 - Arsenal 1

Van Persie scores a gem of a goal to keep the Arsenal momentum going. Have to say though, based on the highlights alone, there were some pretty shocking defensive mistakes. They need Gallas back, especially for games against the big guns




(Thanks palartoo)

Injured Ricardinho tells Cisse: I´m suing

Besiktas's Brazilian midfielder Ricardinho announced Thursday his intention to sue Marseille's Djibril Cisse for a tackle that has left him facing two months on the sidelines.

Ricardinho was taken off in the 44th minute in last week's Champions League opening group tie at the Velodrome after Cisse's 25th minute tackle which resulted in a freekick for the Turkish side.

And in Friday's edition of France Football magazine the Brazilian claims the France international wilfully set about to injure him.

"Because of my injury I can't play for two months and so I won't be paid. Cisse wanted to injure me and he succeeded. But I'm going to take legal action against him."

The 31-year-old added: "The Marseille players played like butchers. They noticed that I was the playmaker and they did everything to take me out and Cisse succeeded."

Besiktas coach Ertugrul Saglam also maintained Marseille, who won the game 2-0, had overstepped the mark.

"There was a World Cup rugby match a few days before in Marseille, they must have confused the rules," he said.

(Courtesy: www.soccerway.com)

Liverpool branded ugly team by Real boss

Bernd Schuster seems to have started the psychological warfare early this round. My guess is that he can get away with such arrogant comments, because his team just whooped Villareal 5-0. Now, Villareal are no pushovers, and anyone who watched that game knows that they played some great stuff as well, but were just outplayed by Real's devastating counter-attacks.

Ah, lets get this psychological party started eh?

But Mr.Schuster doesn't seem to have watched any of Liverpool's game this season, as he says this:

"Liverpool rely on an unattractive style of football. They are an ugly team to play," Schuster told The Sun.

"Look how they gave Barcelona a going-over last season, when they knocked them out of the Champions League.

He probably didnt notice Liverpool outplay Chelsea, stick 4 past Toulouse and slam 6 goals past Derby County.

I wonder if the goateed-one a.k.a Rafa Benitez will respond to this, but in all likely hood he will say the same old thing , "Real Madrid are a good team, and Mr.Schuster is a good coach, but i don't want to talk about other teams, i prefer to talk about my own team".Its either that or...

"Burn in hell motherf*****!!!".

Anyone willing to wager a pint on a "Real Madrid vs Liverpool" Champions League Final? Ah, Football, tis why we love thee.