Racism sweeps through the Anfield dressing room

Racism is sweeping through Liverpool’s once proud history, brushing away all sense of the club’s achievements, past glories and honour.

Why? Because after Suarez, the big racist, called Evra something, Pepe Reina has made an ad that apparently depicts black people as “backward, stupid, and animalistic homosexuals.”

According to the Guardian, Operation Black Vote director Simon Woolley said: “I’m shocked on so many levels. Firstly, how would the Spanish feel if the English stereotyped Spanish people as backward, stupid, and animalistic homosexuals?

“Secondly, what does this say about Pepe Reina? The Liverpool goalkeeper has lived and worked in the UK for nearly a decade; does he think it’s OK to characterise black people this way? Does he think his black team-mates will laugh at his joke? It’s back in the fifties this kind of stuff. They [Groupama] said they were ‘going to withdraw it immediately but have done nothing wrong. But if you’re upset then we apologise’.

“Given that Liverpool football club is trying to move forward from the Suarez affair, it is a shame that another one of their players has caused offence by appearing in an advert that seems to come from a bygone era. Those who are old enough might remember those despicable Zulu ads for cigarettes of the 1970s.”

Blimey. The video below shows that not only is Pepe Reina a racist, but he also laughs at black people while he’s being racist*.

Ever seen a Dolmio ad? Unbelievable the way it depicts Italians as pasta-guzzling, mamma-mia screeching bafoons. Ever seen an ad with Irish men? Chances are they’re in a pub. Ever seen a goalkeeper in full gear in the middle of a tribe being ‘wed’ to its leader?

*Or else this is all a big pile of nonsense….

Carling Cup final (Liverpool V Cardiff) thoughts:

Liverpool finals are entertaining, as a general rule. The exception, in recent history, being the last time they reached a final at Wembley when their cream suits and Eric Cantona left people smiling, not in a nice way. In a ‘Liverpool are shit’ way.

But now, 16 years later, people no longer expect Liverpool to realistically challenge for titles, so neutrals probably prefer the thought of a cup final with Liverpool, than Chelsea or Manchester United.

Liverpool players invited Michael Owen back to celebrate the win (pic from www.liverpoolfc.tv)

With Liverpool, there’s invariably a chance they could lose, and at the very least there’ll be a game that’s evenly-matched with whichever lower league or ‘weaker’ opposition (West Ham, Bolton, Birmingham and Cardiff in the past two decades since the ‘glory days’) they face likely to believe they might have a shot at winning.

Cardiff deserved the win over 90 minutes yesterday. Johnson’s shot off the bar apart, Liverpool created little for their expected dominance in possession. Kenny Miller played well, and is unfortunate to have to remember the final for a missed penalty and chance to win the game in the final minutes of normal time.

For many Liverpool players this should be the end of the road. The situation with Carragher is an interesting one. Having suffered lengthy setbacks when he was younger, he spent a lot of time resting when others were straining themselves to break into Premiership teams.

He could well play for another four years. That may end up being away from Liverpool. While he would be an invaluable squad member, his defensive response to Andy Burton’s question on Sky as to whether this was ‘farewell’ showed a man who is contemplating a future away from Anfield.

The most batshit crazy face award goes to....

Given a regular run of games with the backing of their manager, Skrtel (my man of the match yesterday) and Agger have excelled. Question marks over Agger’s fitness will remain, but the two could be a first choice pairing for years to come, with big things hoped for from Seb Coates leaving little room for Carra.

Her may stay, tempted to move into a part-time coaching capacity. But his eagerness to be second in line to lift the trophy behind Gerrard betrayed the actions of a man who may cause problems should he stay past his sell-by date. Will Skrtel and Agger appreciate being bossed around by Carragher for much longer?

His experience is huge, and he’s a player to admire. But if he’s not first choice it becomes harder for surrounding players to bite their tongue.

He’ll also be a big wage earner. A chance to cut that from the wage bill for a man who would most probably move for lesser wages if it meant a regular game, could be tempting.

Dirk Kuyt should go this summer. Although his goalscoring potential never quite materialised at Merseyside, he has been deployed as a workhorse midfielder rather than a striker for most of his career and should be remembered fondly for that.

Big games often proved his making and winners over Everton and a hat-trick in the 4-1 demolition of Man Utd will ensure he is remembered fondly. But he carries too little threat when it’s 0-0 with 70 minutes gone and Liverpool are trying to break down a stubborn defence.

Wingers and pace are crucial and given that Liverpool’s full-backs are good going forward, but neither particularly pacy, the ball is too often slowed down when Kuyt finds it on the right.

As for the newbies, Henderson was poor, Carroll was average and Downing was bright (albeit once again against lower league opposition). Henderson is young, England U-21 captain and I think will be a good player. A year bedding in with a team of which much is expected in a different style of play has proved difficult. But he is also struggling to find his best position.

Carroll has shown enough in recent weeks to suggest his best has yet to come. He will never be worth £35m. Never. But he may well be worth keeping hold of. Downing remains the most disappointing signing of the season and needs a strong finish to the season now he has no excuse not to be confident.

Bellamy was a sub, but his post-match comments were worth the wait alone. He clearly buys into the ethos Dalglish is trying to set at the club by welcoming a new trophy, but insisting it’s the least Liverpool should aim for. And he’s right. The return of a trophy is important (ask Arsenal would they like one) but the club needs more changes and to finish a rotten season on a positive note.

A win against Arsenal on Saturday is crucial and well within the grasp of this team. And an FA Cup not an impossibility. Could be a decent return from a season that resembled a car crash this time a month ago.

Tevez says sorry – advantage Fergie

Ooh, Fergie’s gonna have be chuckling away to himself at this one. When in doubt, don’t bring in/back a hothead striker who may screw things up for you.

Tevez: The Lying King

Kevin Keegan knows that. I know that. You know that. The fact that Carlos Tevez has said sorry because he’s been fined about £16.2 million shouldn’t change that.

Maybe Mancini will keep him on the bench for the rest of the season and throw him a bone (sorry) in games they’re winning comfortably. But this is all going to give Fergie the chance to say, well, I wouldn’t have done it…wonder what the boy Dzeko makes of it sitting on the bench…won’t be long before he’s managing the club…etc etc.

Not sure it’s the right move. Quality player. But Aguero is a similar, better quality player. Tevez may settle back in and if he were to say, shoot Man City to the win over Utd in the league, it will be a masterstroke. But I don’t like it. Tevez has been on strike because he didn’t fancy coming on in a game/ the way the manager spoke to him.

That’s not good enough.

Here’s what he said: “I wish to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions over the last few months have caused offence. My wish is to concentrate on playing football for Manchester City Football Club.”

Well, someone said it on his behalf is what I meant there. He still doesn’t speak English does he? I mean give the guy a chance, he’s only been in England six years.

Am I being too hard on him? I don’t think so. Even if he’d come back, tail between the legs and apologised two weeks ago you might think there was contrition there and he’d learned some sort of lesson. But he criticised his manager in an interview instead. Just before returning?

This isn’t contrition. This is greed/boredom/building up for his customary summer pining for anywhere but England. Sooner he’s gone the better.

I (don’t) wanna hold your hand.

Everyone from Liverpool has apologised in what appears to be the first move by the US owners to put this sorry Suarez issue to bed.

Suarez. A bit mental.

The apologies came after another weekend in which the media has gone to town on Liverpool. Jonathan Norcroft’s comments in The Sunday Times are phenomenal. The Liverpool fans who accuse media, the FA – and anyone else who condemns Suarez  - of bias are a joke, but some of the comments again this weekend will only fan the flames.

Norcroft: “Ah Suarez, South America’s greatest charmer since General Pinochet.” And: “Evra helped nobody with a post-match celebration that took him close to Suarez but it was hardly the same as racial abuse.”

Hmmm. A missed handshake is hardly worth mentioning in the same sentence as a mass torturer and killer. And Evra’s match celebration took him close to Suarez? The celebration was as obvious an attempt to gauge a reaction from Suarez as the initial incident between the two.

And Ferguson’s comments were also a disgrace. Stating that Suarez could have caused a riot because of a missed handshake? The only way a riot was starting was on the back of Evra’s inflammatory celebrations. And his statement that Suarez should never play for Liverpool again was apalling, coming from a man who has defended actions from Cantona attacking a fan to any of the combined incidents from players in Saturday’s lineup from Giggs to Ferdinand to Rooney.

There will be no apology from United for any of the above. And you can’t blame them for that. Their reputation soars every time Liverpool’s gets damaged each week. Evra was waiting for Suarez’ hand before accepting it. Gamesmanship that, like Ferguson’s comments, are easy to get away with because Utd’s actions aren’t under scrutiny here. Again, despite Evra being an odious character himself, his own actions will go completely unpunished by club, FA or media.

Evra: "I wanna hold your hand". Suarez: "Nah you're alright thanks Pat"

Suarez is an idiot though. He doesn’t have to like Evra. He’s been slandered across the world by people queuing up to call him a racist due to their spat. He’s missed out on 8 games for his club for something he feels aggrieved about.

But not only did his actions cause further embarrassment for the club, they put Liverpool under more pressure in the game. They were under massive pressure throughout against a riled-up team. Suarez’ own performance was poor and emulated in each Liverpool player.

As for Dalglish, I started to feel a resignation was coming today. He has been badly let down by Suarez saying he would shake Evra’s hand only to refuse to do so. And his comments generally appear ill-informed in the face of the media’s glare.

I feel sympathy for him at the same time. What he is trying to do in turning Liverpool into a fortress is the right thing to do. The club has been a soft touch for too long now and Ferguson is the perfect example of someone who turned his club into an ‘us against the world’ mentality.

Few people like Ferguson. But the fans don’t care. Once Utd win he can continue being a bully, who peddles abuse of officials from the sidelines every weekend. Dalglish is a warmer character, but maybe this weekend he’ll have learned that he needs to emulate Ferguson’s ability to ensure he knows everything going on about every issue within the club.

When Geoff Shreeves mentioned the handshake I think Dalglish betrayed genuine surprise. He glances to his left, potentially at a club official, and goes straight onto the defensive. Ferguson would have had his words planned beforehand.

However the apology below, along with that of Ayre and Suarez will hopefully be the end of this. However the initial reaction on Twitter from journos was that ‘it should’ve been done with ages ago’ and ‘too little-too late’. Don’t expect this saga to end till one, or both, of Suarez and Dalglish departs the club.

Dalglish: “To be honest, I was shocked to hear that the player had not shaken hands having been told earlier in the week that he would do. But as Ian said earlier, all of us have a responsibility to represent this club in a fit and proper manner and that applies equally to me as Liverpool manager.

“When I went on TV after yesterday’s game I hadn’t seen what had happened, but I did not conduct myself in a way befitting of a Liverpool manager during that interview and I’d like to apologise for that.”

There’s only one (potential) England captain

*Rather than start this blog again, I will leave it as is. Fabio Capello resigning during the time it took me to write this article is quite funny really. Please replace Capello with (Redknapp).

While Liverpool and Spurs played out a 0-0 draw on Monday most notable for the cameo of a cat, England’s captain-in waiting was reminding Fabio Capello why he is second only to Joe Hart on his teamsheet this summer.

Scott Parker. Silly hair. Sensible character

Not Steven Gerrard, alas, but Scott Parker. A superb performance, that showed off plenty of characteristics to the tenacious midfielder that could be vital for an England team wanting to believe it can actually make an impact in a major tournament.

Most impressive was his attitude and commitment, as always, but his possession under pressure from the Liverpool team was equally striking. Neat passing triangles across the Spurs half continually ensured Spurs frustrated the Reds and were able to mount a platform from which to attempt a smash and grab win.

His tussles with Gerrard were intriguing. The Liverpool captain was showing off his superior skills and flicks in the opening 15 minutes like an errant child attempting to gain his father’s approval in the stands. The burst of pace and flick for Carroll was inspired. A lot of the rest was unnecessary.

At one point in the second half Gerrard stood strong and ensured Parker bounced off him onto the floor. The fans cheered. This was Gerrard posturing, showing his rival for the armband there was only one man going to win Capello’s approval.

Later Gerrard crashed into a clean tackle on Parker (who had taken several knocks and carried on when others wouldn’t have) and the ball ran out for a throw. No playacting from Parker, rather an acknowledgement of a tackle he would appreciate with a pat on the back.

He had already won the battle at that stage, Liverpool were running out of ideas and Gerrard’s influence had long since waned. Parker was outstanding in possession and in temperament and is a must for England’s midfield.

What better way to exorcise the demons of captains and their indiscretions than to pick a man you could be proud of and is the closest bet to a sure thing in terms of not letting his country or fellow players down.

Stevie G. G is for good.

Gerrard is certainly a worthy choice, but hasn’t hit anywhere near top form as many pundits would have you believe. He may get there, and would potentially be a perfect partnership with Parker. And he is also probably going to be the captain. In truth Capello is struggling to keep the team together and can’t afford for Gerrard to feel snubbed and losing another senior player’s confidence.

By picking Parker he would also be ostracising Lampard, a key Terry ally.

But politics aside, surely the aim here is to progress through a major tournament. Politics aside, Parker should play and he should be captain.

Booing Evra (Let’s all calm down)

The unfortunate thing about racism being a dominant theme in the media at the moment means that more and more incidents are set to occur like the man arrested for apparently making monkey chants at Evra on Saturday.

If he did, he’s an idiot. But the fact that he’s so focused on an opposition player (or fan) when everyone around him is focused on football, is indicative of an idiot regardless.

People who relish the abuse between fans more than a cup game with their biggest rivals are a strange breed who shouldn’t be allowed to tar all football fans with the ‘racist’ tag that’s being thrown about at the moment.

Liverpool fans 'abuse' Evra (Pic: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian)

But the criticism of booing (by people including PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor) is a joke. Liverpool fans aren’t booing Evra because they’re racist. They’re booing him because he plays for a team they hate and not only did the murky racist affair end with their star player being banned, but last time Evra was at Anfield he was kissing his badge, blowing kisses at the crowd and feigning injury (all shown in the video below) and waving imaginary yellow cards (for a dive by Downing which should also have been a booking).

Evra led the French team on a strike on what should be the world’s greatest stage, the World Cup. He regularly makes comments about ex-teammates and opposition clubs (as is his right). Evra shouldn’t be vilified for the colour of his skin but as an opposition player, booing is surely fair game.

And the ‘abuse’ Evra suffered at Anfield is the same ‘abuse’ Gerrard gets taking a corner at Old Trafford and the same ‘abuse’ Suarez will suffer in every ground from now on.

Let’s not kid ourselves here that Evra is a victim, full stop, and that booing him is a ‘disgrace’ as so many rent-a-pundits opined over the weekend. Evra’s no angel and he had his part to play in the racism incident. Both by starting it by insulting Suarez, and then complaining that Suarez called him a n*****. He didn’t.

And before I start getting abuse of my own – Suarez deserved his ban. Primarily for referring to Evra’s skin colour, but also because he blatantly lied to the FA’s commission. To say he patted Evra on the head and pinched his skin in a ‘conciliatory’ manner, was nonsense. He was trying to wind him up, and he was trying to get Evra to lash out. Both were obvious when watching the game. Had he said to the commission, “I was trying to wind him up, the same way he tried to wind me up by insulting my sister”, he would have been a reliable and accurate witness. The rest was a farce.

For the Anfield crowd to call Evra a liar doesn’t seem to me to be that big a deal. They’re defending their star player who got banned for 8 games for racism by a panel who found he wasn’t racist. Booing is more than acceptable, abuse isn’t. There were the usual stupid chants by both fans according to witnesses on Saturday, but little more when it came to Evra (bar, it seems, the idiot we’ve talked about).

Man Utd fans criticising the supposed ‘abuse’ of their left-back should probably hold their tongues. In less than two weeks  Old Trafford will be the venue for Suarez v Evra and I fully expect around 60,000 fans to be booing the Uruguayan. With justifiable cause. And presumably calling him a racist. With less justifiable cause.

2 X 6-pointers = Title decider?

If Manchester City beat Spurs and Arsenal beat Manchester United the title will be switching sides in for once in a blue moon.

That opening statement is a little controversial, but hear me out. The loss of Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and David Silva in recent weeks, coupled with a tough, and strange, run of fixtures that saw City play twice in 48 hours at one point and then once in nine days afterwards, has left them in a rocky patch.

The linesman wondered why Platt and Mancini were singing opera – Pic from Daily Mirror

Don’t mind what Mancini or the players say. They have lost to Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester Utd in recent weeks. That can’t do anything but leave a niggling doubt as to their ability to consistently beat the big boys. Now it’s time for Spurs. This is a crucial game.

Adebayor is a massive loss for Spurs, despite Defoe’s better goal tally in spite of fewer games. Kompany’s absence would leave City vulnerable to Adebayor’s strengths and in particular his new-found attitude to playing for the team, from which Spurs have gained considerable reward this season.

Defoe is Defoe no matter who’s in defence. Might smack one in from 30 yards. Might smack six wide and keep on trying his luck…Savic will be happier competing against the man linked with a move away from White Hart Lane. His struggles against Carroll in the Carling Cup against Liverpool were washed away by a capable performance against trickier customers at Wigan in Rodallega and Moses.

So if City were to win on Sunday, in the earlier kick-off, piling the pressure on Manchester Utd as they travel to the Emirates, it would be a crucial result without their captain and would bring his league suspension to an end, before Everton the following Saturday with the Carling Cup second leg in between.

Man City V Spurs. 1.30. Sky Sports 1
Arsenal V Man Utd. 4pm. Sky Sports 1

And in other news…

(1): Manchester United’s trip to Arsenal fills me with a sense of foreboding for gunners fans. Maybe it’s because the last time these two teams met Ferguson’s troops racked up almost a goal a minute. Kind of. And Arsenal don’t have a defence to speak of.

(2) Joey Barton on Twitter (Jan 20):

“If I talked about Neil, he’d do well to get another job. Twitter cost him his job???? I can think of a million other things! #shutitwarnock“

And: “Lost his job and the guy is blaming everyone but himself! Embarrassing, time to look in the mirror mate. Last thing we need right. Big week.”

And: “Not a big fan of people that try to make scapegoats out of others. If u live by the sword, u die by it.”

QPR manager Neil Warnock on Barton’s arrival (August 26)

“We’ve got a very, very good player on our hands, he’s very enthusiastic. People will say one or two things about him, but they’ve said stuff about me in the past too, so I won’t worry about that.”

Warnock on QPR chairman Tony Fernandes (Aug 27)

“I’ve been speaking to him (Fernandes) most evenings, I’ve never had that kind of support anywhere. I’ve given him the names and he’s said go for it – you can’t have any more than that as a manager.”

For the record Neil Warnock will be appearing on BBC’s football focus tomorrow.

———-

(3): Carlos Tevez. I’ll give you a fiver to piss off.

Andy Carroll – Where’s the support?

In his defence…..

Andy Carroll is widely regarded as the biggest flop of the Premiership season to-date. Fernando Torres, pound for pound, perhaps deserves the title, but pundits have grown tired of taking him to task after each 12 minute cameo in the blue of Chelsea.

But every game the Spaniard starts (usually against weaker opposition) you think to yourself, Torres could get a couple today. In fact, he could get a couple any day. But he probably won’t until Roman Abramovich orders Villas Boas to make the Spaniard penalty taker (and even then I’m not sure I’d bet on him finding the net).

Pic: Andy Carroll in training ahead of the clash with Stoke (Pic from www.liverpoolfc.tv)

The problem with Andy Carroll is, you don’t ever start a game thinking, this could be his day. But rather than bash him for his lack of touch, pace, fitness, finesse, whatever the various criticisms are, let’s consider for a minute that he’s lacked the right support to blossom at Anfield.

(1): Stewart Downing/ Liverpool’s lack of width.

Carroll thrives, we hear all the time, on good crosses. He’ll win more than 50 per cent of hopeful balls launched at him in the air, but when he’s really attacking the ball, the percentage rises. In his games so far he’s shown that if you give him a ball to attack rather than hold up, he tends to beat defenders (though his accuracy is also questionable here).

But the one time he got a chance to do that in the recent 3-0 defeat to Man City, was from a cross from Jose Enrique. Carroll peeled away at the back post, easily beat Clichy with a perfect nod-down for Kuyt whose shot was superbly blocked by Vincent Kompany. So where’s the support from the £20m signing from Aston Villa.

When Downing signed, everyone said he would provide the ammunition for Carroll. To-date, Downing has been the biggest flop of the Premiership season.

Kuyt, Maxi and Henderson have all been tried on the right wing, none are any use to Carroll. Bellamy has been superb at driving crosses in from right and left, but tends to get to the penalty area and cut the ball back, something Gerrard is sure to benefit from in the coming weeks and that the likes of Shelvey and Maxi have already benefited from to-date this season.

The midweek game against Man City was exactly the wrong one for Carroll who played a thankless task in Liverpool’s 1-0 grind. His opportunity early in the game was on his weaker foot, however he out-muscled Savic and created space for the chance which was well-saved by Hart, the league’s most in-form keeper.

When Carroll plays, he needs support and space to make more of those opportunities to score.

(2): The Aquilani experience

Have Liverpool not learned from the signing of Aquilani from Roma? The club was arguably taking more of a risk with the Italian, not only was he injured but his move to the Premiership was bound to throw up the usual ‘foreign playmaker cant hack the rough stuff’ questions?

The signing of a half-fit Carroll in January made little sense. His role in the second half of the season was minimal and Liverpool knew signing him he would have little impact on their season.

The argument that Suarez couldn’t play in Europe was fine, but Carroll wouldn’t play for the team till March and it didn’t seem as though Europe was anyone’s priority in the early days of Kenny Dalglish’s second coming.

Another argument went that the more Newcastle demanded for the striker, the more Liverpool asked from Chelsea for Torres.

But that makes little sense from a business point of view either. Carroll had started well in the Premiership, but in the summer, once he had recovered fitness, he would hardly have cost more than the amount Liverpool eventually shelled out for him in January 2011.

There is an argument, in fact, that Carroll would have cost less as Newcastle would have had time to buy a replacement, but maybe the move was to appease Lfc fans who expected a marquee signing to replace their former idol in the number nine shirt.

Carroll has lost weight and looks fit, but seems to have lost confidence and was his touch always that bad? His goal against Oldham showed he can still turn things around at Liverpool, but against a defeated team late in an FA  Cup third round?

He has a run of games now to show his worth. The Geordie has found himself in and out of the team all season (unlike Stewart Downing who has been given every chance to prove his worth) and has mostly played without Liverpool’s best players Gerrard and Suarez (more often than not chosen instead of, rather than alongside Carroll).

At home, against so-called ‘weaker’ opposition is the time for Carroll to show he can still bully defences and can score goals like that against Oldham given half a chance. Better strikers than Carroll have been given more time to find their feet and the 23-year-old has barely 100 first team starts to his name.

Stoke at Anfield is time to show an ‘old-fashioned centre forward’ can still prove his worth. However if he fails to impress in the coming month, Andy may go down alongside Aquilani as yet another expensive Liverpool mistake.

Cesc Fabregas and kissing the badge

Much has been made today of Cesc Fabregas kissing Barcelona’s crest as he was unveiled in the Catalan shirt for the first time today, or for the first time since Puyol covered him in the famous strip after Spain’s World Cup success last year.

Fabregas gives photographers the money shot

So is kissing the badge something to get riled up over or not? In this case potentially. Fabregas and Fernando Torres for example were different breeds. For a start, though Cesc was a Barcelona lad, he left the club at 16 and has played all his senior years as a footballer for the red and white of Arsenal.

In that time he has been unlucky not to have won more trophies, but has been part of massive success as a Spanish squad member, played in a Champions League final and been involved in a team that has played some of the best football on the planet.

Without rose-tinted glasses, Liverpool fans will have realised that Torres never supported Liverpool, but loved the club not only for the way he was treated, but presumably for the fact he settled so well. A striker scoring goals is more likely to feel loved and strike up a rapport with fans. In his last season Torres was struggling for form and fitness and the disenchantment grew.

Speaking after being unveiled at Chelsea, Torres said: “I never once kissed the Liverpool badge. Never. And I never kissed the Atletico Madrid badge, even though I was one of their biggest fans.

Torres kisses, er, bites the Liverpool badge

“Some players do it within five minutes of joining a new club. That’s their way. But it’s not mine. Football is different these days. Players come and go. That is why, for me, much of the romance has gone out of the game. So no kissing from me.“

All of which is fair. He came to Liverpool, played well, scored goals, but saw it as a job, a job in which as a prized employee he deserved to be recognised with the appropriate recognition, or in this case silverware.

Meanwhile Fabregas apologised to fans today: “I’m disappointed and upset about it because I have had a great relationship with the fans over the years. It took time to build this and I’m disappointed I could lose some of them.

“All I have are words of gratitude. I’ll never forget what they have done for me, I gave absolutely everything to the club and I think they know that but it was the right time to come back here.”

And to be fair he probably means it. If, as he says, he has been denied the chance to talk about leaving, then it must be tough not to say goodbye to the fans who have helped support him for eight years and for whom he captained the club. But then the manner in which he appears to have courted the move, means it’s unfair to criticise Arsenal for forbidding him to speak about leaving before a contract was signed.

But as for kissing the badge on day one, it was probably something he was cajoled into doing by photographers. So maybe it doesn’t mean anything. But you have to wonder how Barcelona fans feel. This was, after all, a player who left them at 16 for a foreign country and for whom they are having to pay up to £40m for just to have him back, for a team that in all honesty doesn’t need him.

So kissing the badge counts for little. Perhaps if you’re born in a city and play out your days there. In the Premiership era players like Gerrard, Neville, Shearer are rarities and should be embraced for keeping a sense of the local feel about a club. For them the shirt matters most, but who cares as long as you’re winning?

Liverpool 1 Sunderland 1

All the debate post match here has been about the yellow card shown to Kieran Richardson for the last-man foul on Suarez early in the game.

Suarez missed a penalty but scored minutes later

Dalglish got it right at the start when he talked about how no-one wants to see a guy given a red card that early in the game (season) and in truth it makes a sort of sense. Had Suarez buried the penalty Liverpool could have strolled it and there would not have been a reason to look at the incident as a talking point.

Personally feel that Suarez, unlike Steve Bruce’s claim, had timed his run around the keeper perfectly, would have scored and was thus denied a legitimate goalscoring position by the foul. Did Richardson know what he was doing with the foul? Probably, but the slightest contact at full tilt was always going to send Suarez to ground, legitimately, as a tangle of legs ensues once one foot stops doing what it’s supposed to with a trip.

 

(Courtesy of Sky Sports. Video from YouTube)

That said, a yellow card and a penalty is probably the right call for the good of the game, depending on how blatant it is. Had Richardson taken Suarez  down nearer to the half way line with a clear run on goal looming ahead of the Uruguayan a red would have been justified. However Richardson did attempt to match him for pace, and did reasonably well. Once the keeper closes the striker down and the defender is back far enough to make a difference, the incident gets downplayed to a yellow in my opinion.

The £16 million pound question

The rest of the game was both satisfying and worrying for Liverpool fans. Downing and Adam looked bright, and perhaps more of a talking point was Carroll’s strike being wrongly ruled out for a push that was barely evident. How Jordan Henderson fits into the team is more of a question mark. This is a player who was called up for England in the first half of last season before being dropped by Steve Bruce when his performances dipped. He’s also not had a full summer break, having played for England u-21s in their Euro 2011 tournament, where he failed to shine.

Gerrard will (presumably) eventually return to full fitness, while Raul Meireles, if he stays at Anfield, will expect a place and generate more of a threat going forward. Once again it seemed as if Liverpool were in decent control of the game with few Sunderland chances, but it is breaking teams down as Ashley Young just did for Manchester United that will prove crucial.

Dirk Kuyt ended the season in good goalscoring form but is not a right-winger and Dalglish seems to realise that pace is needed for Liverpool when going forward. Kuyt will have a role, potentially in more defensive formations against the bigger teams, but Meireles and Gerrard may be needed to break down weaker opponents at the expense of Henderson and Adam.

Chelsea and Arsenal both drew, getting Liverpool off the hook slightly, but both had away games. This should have been a banker for a strong Liverpool team aside from Gerrard, Johnson and Skrtel being absent. Arsenal next week shouldn’t be a crucial game but is, as the Gunners are struggling for morale and will be missing key players with Gervinho and Song expected to miss out through Joey Barton (or suspension as the FA will no doubt call it).

Expect a similarly attack-minded Liverpool team but fitness and the possible appearance of some new Arsenal players will no doubt have a bearing….