Now then.. where did I leave off?
Ah yes.. a 2-0 loss to Stoke and a potentially injured Torres. Well then, boys and girls, get ready for a roller coaster.
The next game in the fixtures was against West Ham. All eyes were on Torres as he strode out onto the pitch, and to be fair, the lad did well. A return to play for Glen Johnson saw him scoring inside the first 20 minutes and we were on a roll. Torres was show casing his ability to bring the ball into play with accurate first touches left right and centre, and his deft flick-ons allowed the midfield to surge through the middle. Kuyt rifled a penalty straight down the middle of Robert Green’s net as he took a dive to the right, and Maxi managed to bag another before the close of the first half. There were a number of occasions that we should’ve converted in the second half, but we settled into the rhythm nicely and coasted into the 90th minute with a 3-0 victory. Happy days.
We played through the game with the pain of Gerrard in the stands after a hamstring injury representing England in a dire friendly against France. Capello had promised he’d only get a short run out to leave him in good stead for the Premier League, but he was asked to play on as the scoreline worsened. To no great surprise he was heavily affected and we lost captain fantastic for a 4 week period.
One week on and we were facing up against Tottenham. This was a make or break game. If we’re looking to see anything of the Champions League this year we need to prove that we’ve got what it takes at the crucial times. In my eyes if we’d have beaten Tottenham we’d be ready to hear that delightful melody around the ground. “The Champions!”. As you may have heard, or otherwise guessed, we lost out. A 1-0 lead was struck off the record as Skrtyl converted at both ends – a scrappy fight in the box at one end was nullified by an unfortunately timed slide across the back post as Modric flew towards the goal and released a skidding cross/shot. Defoe stepped up to take a penalty and skewed his effort wide, but Aaron Lennon swooped through in the dying minutes to give the home team the lead. With a show of blistering pace he managed to get on the end of a through ball and poke a finish past Reina.
Make or break. Broken.
In perfect time for Gerrard’s absence Carragher managed to sustain a fairly nasty looking shoulder injury. A dislocation sees him out for a potential 12 weeks. With absolutely no scouse experience in the ranks we’re in for a rocky festive period.
A certain unveiling of the truth is taking place with the new owner Mr Henry. With a spot of helpful banking there’s been a few smatterings of jiggery pokery in the Anfield accounts. He’s adamant that his original proposal of removing all debt except that in the stadium itself, but there’s something fishy happening.
It’s probably nothing to worry about, god knows the savings accounts of any of the large clubs are going to be shrouded in secrets and miss-truths, but we’ve apparently got an overdraft to use, and somewhere in the region of £25mil to be pushing on the transfer budget. Mr Comolli?
