09/10 Season Kickoff - Spurs 2 vs 1 Liverpool

Our pre-season was not fantastic and I had my fears prior to this game.

I expected a tough opening game at White Hart Lane but what puzzled me was the line-up Rafa put up. We lost to Spurs twice last season and to go there without our best available 11 is suicide. Benayoun and Voronin was on the bench. Instead we found Babel and Lucas in the starting line-up.

Babel was pathetic on the left. He lost possession too easily, lacked aerial presence, can't tackle, can't shoot, can't pass. He was simply a pain to watch. Lucas was quoted saying he is confident he can fill the void left by Alonso and I was surprised with that bold statement. We all know Lucas' quality. He is nowhere near Alonso. He is another disappointing player that day and all through last season as well. If not for Reina's saves, we could have been 2 goals down by half time and we didn't even have a single shot on target then. We saw the benefits when Rafa adopted an attacking style of play towards the end of last season. We were good going forward, always looked like scoring. I am not sure if the defensive approach adopted in the first half against Spurs had undone us. One thing for sure is that Lucas needs to be replaced. He is just aweful. In the absence of Aquilani, I feel Gerard need to be brought back into midfield to provide that creative spark and physical presence. Reira need to play on the left and perhaps Benayoun or Voronin can partner Torres up front.

I have been watching Carragher closely since last season. I feel his level of performance has dropped tremendously. The foul he gave away outside the penalty box led to the second spurs goal. That was absolutely unnecessary. Ayala came on and did relatively well. Perhaps, its time to rest Carra and give the youngsters a chance. Read a rumour that we had signed a Greek 30yr old defender from AEK Athens named Sotiris Kyrgiakos. I am not sure how good a player he is.

One other problem that I feel is hindering our progress is the ownership of the club. The yanks need to go. In today's context, without a big transfer kitty, we are not going to challenge for the BPL title. Look at Man City. We need another world class striker, play-maker and defender. In today's crazy transfer market, it can easily cost the club >100m pounds. Are the yanks ready to provide the club with that kind of funds?? I seriously doubt so.

We will be playing in Anfield in the next 2 games. 6 points is mandatory in the next 2 games to get out season started. We can't afford to lose ground with the top 3 teams this early in the season.