Fulham 3 Liverpool 1

Six days ago I was high as a kite after watching us deservedly beat Man Ure 2-0. The inevitable mid-week Carling Cup exit away to Arsenal took a little wind out of my sales but it’s not as though it was a proper game and I was still looking forward to seeing my heroes in action again at Fulham.

Little did I know what starting eleven Rafa was going to be forced into fielding in what is always a tricky fixture at the best of times.

How many black cats did Rafa run over in pre-season? I really don’t think I have ever known a season where we have had so much bad luck with injuries and refereeing decisions.

The refereeing decisions are really stacking up now... The penalty we should have had at 1-2 for the foul on Voronin at White Hart Lane; the ludicrous amount of first half stoppage time in which Villa scored a second at Anfield; the penalty we should have had at Chelsea at 0-0 when Drogba fouled Skrtel; the goal awarded against us at Sunderland when the ball deflected off a fucking beach ball; the stoppage time penalty we should have had in midweek at the Emirates when Senderos virtually caught the ball between his elbows, and today two highly contentious straight red cards given against us.

Then there is the bad luck... At White Hart Lane we concede to a wonder strike from a player who has never scored and is never likely to score a similar goal again in his life before conceding a second to a player who shouldn’t have been playing but the FA (Fucking Arseholes) deemed he was only suspended from Newcastle games but could play for other clubs(????????). We dominated at home against Villa before conceding against the run of play to an own goal. Then when Torres got us back into the game, Gerrard gave away a crazy penalty. At Chelsea we played very well only for one of our best players on the day, Mascherano, to make a stupid mistake that was clinically punished. Ahead of the Sunderland game, we lost Gerrard, Torres and Johnson (and Kyrgiakos) to injuries sustained on international duty while Mascherano and Insua were ruled out after travelling half way around the world for a fucking friendly. Against Lyon, Torres was ruled out and then Gerrard limped off after 25 minutes and hasn’t played since. Today, after conceding the opener against the run of play, we levelled only for a silly mistake by Kuyt to again be clinically punished. It seems like every mistake we make is resulting in a goal for the opposition right now.

It’s hugely frustrating but I’m going to take out my frustrations on fucking SKY Sports (bastards). As soon as the match kicked off the bloody commentators were talking about what a defeat would do to Liverpool’s title challenge. A few weeks ago against Chelsea we were hearing that if Liverpool lost, they would be out of the title race because the previous season we had only lost twice (and not won the League). Then against Sunderland, we were hearing that if we lost we would be out of the title race. Last week if we lost against Man Ure we would have been out of the title race. How many times can we be ruled out of this fucking title race? Have we even entered it? Has anyone else been ruled out?

Anyway, here’s SKY Sport’s match report published under the heading "Rafa's tactics torn to shreds" (in blue – the colour of shit) with my comments in red.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is set to face renewed speculation regarding the security of his job after his much-changed side lost 3-1 against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Yes, Rafa will face renewed speculation from... SKY Sports and one or two tabloids not fit to wipe your arse with but anyone with an ounce of common sense believes he is still the best man for the job.

Fulham took the points as goals from Erik Nevland and Clint Dempsey secured the win after Fernando Torres had cancelled out Bobby Zamora's opener in the first half on the banks of The Thames.

However, Benitez will receive the intense scrutiny after deciding to substitute Torres as an injury precaution early in the second half with the score at 1-1 before then withdrawing the influential Yossi Benayoun after Liverpool had again fallen behind.

To make matters worse for Liverpool, who have lost six of their last seven games in all competitions and travel to Lyon for a must-win UEFA Champions League game in midweek, Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher were shown red cards in the closing stages.

This was a match which only demonstrated that Torres - who was a hero in last weekend's win over Manchester United, now a blip in the form guide - cannot do it all by himself after a number of his team-mates were missing through injury and illness.
What sort of comment is this? Torres cannot do it all by himself? When was the last time you saw a player single-handedly beat eleven other players in a Premiership game?

He cannot keep producing the only quality in a Liverpool team which, without the injured Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson, looks bereft of ideas and creativity.
Shock, horror! Liverpool without Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson are less creative than they would have been with them. Next you'll be telling me Valencia scores and creates fewer goals than Cristiano Ronaldo did for the filthy Mancs or that Chelsea were a better team in the second half of last season when Drogba and Essien were playing than in the first half when they weren't. Incidentally, we were also without Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio, Ngog, Riera, Cavalieri and Kelly (OK Kelly might not be a big name but his selection and performance against Lyon suggests he would have been first in line to replace Johnson if fit).

I also thought that Lucas had an excellent first half and that Benayoun and Degen brought a lot of creativity to the team up until Fulham's undeserved opener knocked the stuffing out of us.

Next Wednesday Liverpool travel to Lyon for a match which could see them effectively knocked out of the Champions league in the group stages. After this result they might just be out of the Premier League race, too.
The match could "see them effectively knocked out of the Champions league" but it could also yield a positive result. No one knows what will happen yet so why focus on the potentially negative outcome?

The pressure is building on Benitez. And with the Reds faithful once more booing his substitution of Benayoun the steam is hissing all around him.

Bizarrely, it was a match in which Liverpool enjoyed the majority of the possession. A match in which they pressed forward with lots of effort, often against a wall of white shirts. But a match in which for vast swathes they struggled to supply the quality to go with their industry.
Finally an acknowledgement that we did dominate! No mention of the fact we were so depleted by injuries though.

They must have wondered, however, quite how they found themselves behind after 24 minutes.
Fulham had not had a single shot on Jose Reina's goal. They had barely crossed the half-way line.
But shortly after Benayoun had produced an acrobatic volley which rattled the Fulham crossbar the home side broke away.
Exactly! It was against the run of play that Fulham scored with their first attack. They had put 10 men behind the ball and were looking to hit us on the break in their home game! We, at least, were trying to win the game and were unlucky not to be ahead by that stage.

The ball came to Damien Duff on the left and that trusty left foot curled in a raking cross which cut the Liverpool defence and allowed Zamora to tap home from close range.

The problem for Liverpool was that while they continued to press forward they struggled to produce the high tempo and urgency they had demonstrated against Manchester United last Sunday.
And when the equaliser came they could hardly put it down to rhythm and style. Instead it was fashioned out of nothing, but by the predator supreme.
I disagree with that first statement. I thought we moved the ball about very well and were the only team trying to score until Fulham's breakaway opener. You can't compare a Fulham side playing an extremely defensive game with a Man Ure side who came to Anfield and tried to attack us. Maybe the equaliser was slightly crude in the way it was created but before then we had put together some decent attacking moves only for the final ball or finish to lack quality.

There appeared to be little danger for the Fulham defence when the ball came to Andriy Voronin. His header was weak and misdirected but it cannoned off a Fulham defender and arced into the hitting zone of Torres.

He needed no more invitation. The Spaniard simply swivelled and swung his right boot and a fabulous volley from the edge of the box scorched past Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

It was Torres' 10th league goal of the season and only demonstrated once more his value to Liverpool.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson made a double substitution at half-time, bringing on Zoltan Gera for Diomansy Kamara and Nevland for Duff due to injury.

The Cottagers might have re-taken the lead on the hour mark when Zamora fired over a cross and Gera swivelled and shot but unfortunately for the home side straight at goalkeeper Reina.

They did take the lead, however, after 74 minutes and once more it was against the run of play.
Exactly! It was against the run of play. Both Fulham goals came against the run of play. What can Rafa do about that? If Fulham had dominated and we'd scored against the run of play, we'd be criticised for being jammy.

This time Paul Konchesky surged down the left-hand side and Reina could only parry his cross. The ball was headed back across goal by Gera and there was Nevland to slide the ball into the net.
No mention of the fact Kuyt could have let the ball go out for a throw-in but inexplicably kept it on a played in Konchesky to create the goal. It was a farce of a goal and totally undeserved.

It got worse for Liverpool four minutes later when Swiss defender Degen was sent off for a reckless lunge on Dempsey.
Yes, it was a reckless lunge but it wasn't two-footed and Degen made minimal, if any, contact with Dempsey (not that you could tell from the meal the cheating twat made of the challenge). It was a free-kick and a yellow card at most. In no reality was that worthy of a straight red card.

Incredibly three minutes later Liverpool were down to nine men when Carragher brought down Zamora as the last man and also, correctly, received a red card.
Correctly? Watch the replay. Carra played the ball. This red was all about evening up the decision from last week after numerous dickheads in the media and their ringleader Alex Ferguson claimed Carra should have been sent off for an alleged foul on Michael Shithead. I would also like to know how anyone can consider Bobby Zamora bearing down on a keeper a "goal-scoring chance".

And to wrap up an afternoon to forget for Benitez, Dempsey rolled in the third for Fulham as Liverpool disintegrated.
Liverpool disintergrated? Liverpool's nine players at that time were Reina, Ayala, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Babel, Ecclestone and Voronin. They were 2-1 down so had to try and get an equaliser and were caught out on the break. What else can you expect?

A few final comments:
Liverpool's starting back four cost a combined total of £2.8 million. The entire starting XI cost £69.4m (average £6.3m per player) but 60% of that was spent on Torres (who delivered) and Mascherano (who didn't again). Without Torres and Mascherano, the other 9 players who started cost a combined £27.8m (average £3m per player).

Can you ever envisage a scenario where Man Ure, Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham or even Arsenal have to field nine starting players whose combined cost is less than the price of Rio Ferdinand?

Of the seven players on our bench, only Babel and Dossena could be considered "established" players with Ayala, Plessis, Spearing, Ecclestone and Gulacsi plucked straight out of the reserve (youth) team.

To give criticism where it is due, Voronin was terrible again - just as he was in midweek - and I have completely given up on Ryan Babel now. What a total waste of space!