Watch Liverpool

Archive for February, 2010

Fernando Torres announced his Liverpool return in characteristic fashion this afternoon as his 13th goal in only 17 league appearances spared Rafael Benítez’s team from a damaging draw against Blackburn Rovers. Under pressure to respond to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur victories in the race for fourth place, Liverpool were indebted to the Spain striker – and a 90th-minute save by José Reina from Christopher Samba – in a feisty contest at Anfield.

The roles had been reversed during the first half as Blackburn surprised with an adventurous opening and pegged Liverpool inside their own half only to be caught out on the counterattack by the home side. Morten Gamst Pedersen was prominent playing off the Rovers’ target man, Nikola Kalinic, and both he plus Samba tested Reina before the Croatian spurned a fine chance when released inside the Liverpool area by the Norwegian.

Just as the visitors appeared to have gained control, however, a break that announced Steven Gerrard’s improving form in emphatic fashion gave Liverpool the lead with their first attack. Gerrard made an exquisite exchange with Lucas Leiva to open central midfield, played a second one-two with Yossi Benayoun and benefited from a fortunate miscontrol inside the area to clip a nonchalant finish over the advancing Paul Robinson.

Blackburn almost levelled immediately as Pedersen collected Samba’s cross but was twice denied by Reina. Twenty minutes later they did equalise when Liverpool imploded inside their own box. First Benayoun sliced a poor clearance straight to Pedersen and then Jamie Carragher, having fallen to the floor attempting to deal with the returning pressure from the Norwegian and Kalinic, needlessly pushed the ball clear with his hand to concede an undisputed penalty. Keith Andrews drove the spot-kick hard and low under the Liverpool goalkeeper.

The outbreak of defensive folly proved contagious, and just five minutes later Liverpool were back in front when Blackburn switched off in the mistaken belief that the threat from Torres was over. It never is.

The Spaniard was foiled by Samba’s tackle inside the area after collecting an outstanding pass from Lucas yet, for reasons only known to himself, Robinson pursued a loose ball that was always destined for Maxi Rodriguez. The Argentinian simply squared the ball past the stranded Rovers goalkeeper and Torres, on his first start since 13 January, converted from close range.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolBlackburn RoversAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Angry supporters to use Carling Cup final at Wembley against Aston Villa to publicise bid to oust Glazer family

Wembley Stadium will reverberate this afternoon to the sounds of the first colour-coded football rebellion as Manchester United take on Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final and fans of the Premier League champions stage a vivid protest against the club’s controversial American owners.

Instead of the usual bank of red and white, United’s end of the stadium will be green and gold – with 30,000 coloured balloons sent skyward. Thousands of Manchester United fans will also be wearing green-and-gold scarves distributed by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (Must). Must is campaigning for the removal of the American Glazer family, which bought the club in a debt-leveraged buyout in 2005. Intended as a symbolic rejection of the Glazer family’s ownership, the green-and-gold theme harks back to Newton Heath, the club founded in 1878 that then became Manchester United in 1902.

Today’s game, which is certain to attract a large international television audience, is seen as an opportunity for independent supporters’ organisations to demonstrate the extent of opposition to the Glazer family’s continued ownership of the club. The green-and-gold protest began at the beginning of the year, after the publication of club accounts for 2008/2009. The figures revealed that without the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £81m, the colossal interest payments on the club’s debt would have meant a net loss, after a hugely successful season in which the club won the Premier League and reached the Uefa Champions League final.

Referring to the green-and-gold protest, a spokesman for Must said yesterday: “We’ve done what we can, and we’re hoping to see if during any celebrations, the players put on any green and gold – we’ll be throwing things on to the pitch, scarves and stuff and whichever way they go, it could be interesting.”

The Wembley protest comes after a week in which the issues of debt and foreign ownership have dominated the football headlines. On Friday, Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to go into administration, with debts of around £70m, sparking fears that a combination of spiralling player wages and reckless overspending could leave other clubs vulnerable to a similar financial predicament.

Yesterday, hundreds of fans from across the country attended a Beyond the Debt rally, hosted in Bury by FC United of Manchester, a club formed by Manchester United fans disillusioned by the Glazer takeover, and sponsored by Supporters Direct, a fans’ organisation committed to giving supporters a bigger say in running football.

Dave Boyle of Supporters Direct told the meeting: “Football clubs shouldn’t be owned by individuals, or even a group of individuals. They should be owned by supporters.”

Football finance expert Keith Harris claims he has £1bn in place to buy out the Glazers, but fans need to boycott matches and merchandise to force the Glazers to sell. “They have to be prepared to take the pain of not watching their club in order to achieve a long-term gain,” he said last week

After today’s Wembley protest, there is even speculation that United fans and those of their arch-rivals Liverpool are considering joining forces against their respective American owners when the two teams meet on 21 March. Liverpool are owned by Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett – who are felt by fans to have saddled the famous club with soaring debts and interest payments, and failed to deliver on the promise of a bigger ground.

Spirit of Shankly, a Liverpool supporters’ group that is coordinating a campaign to oust Hicks and Gillett, denied reports in the Manchester press last week that it has already held secret meetings with its counterparts along the M62. However, the group’s AGM takes place in Liverpool today, and high on the agenda will be the issue of whether to join forces with United fans in a demonstration in March. The impact of a joint demonstration by supporters known for their fierce animosity towards each other would be bound to generate fresh headlines around the world.

The chatroom of United’s Red Issue fanzine site has been teeming with plans for today’s final, with a special trail called “Green and Gold Report”, with an editorial to be published next week listing options for further protest. According to some supporters, the fight should be taken nationwide via the Football Supporters’ Federation.

On one popular Liverpool forum, a supporter said that a joint protest with Manchester United fans was unpalatable, but necessary.

“It is time to think the unthinkable, and join forces with the dark side of the East Lancs Road,” said the entry. “The two biggest clubs in the land with the two best fan bases in the land have been sold down the river to a bunch of no-mark Yanks, intent on stealing money from our vast sources of revenue. There is a greater good to be had here.”

Manchester UnitedProtestLiverpoolCarling CupLuke BainbridgeEd Vulliamyguardian.co.uk

• Sam Allardyce says Benítez sent DVD to referees chief
• Disc alleged to have documented Spaniard’s grievances

Sam Allardyce has rekindled his feud with Rafael Benítez by accusing the Liverpool manager of sending a DVD to the referees’ chief Keith Hackett in protest at his rival’s methods with Blackburn Rovers.

There has been no love lost between the managers since Allardyce, then in charge of Bolton Wanderers, inflicted the first league defeat of Benítez’s Anfield tenure in August 2004 and prompted the first in a series of complaints about his perceived direct, physical approach. The animosity deepened last season when Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson accused Benítez of showing contempt for Blackburn with an alleged dismissive gesture during Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Rovers at Anfield.

And their manager has continued his criticism of Benítez ahead of Rovers’ return to Liverpool tomorrow. Allardyce said: “I have no worries about what he thinks of me or my team. The most important thing to me is we can beat them on any given date and we know we can beat them because I did it at the Reebok.

“Because he didn’t like it he found an excuse about how we played. [Arséne] Wenger did it, [José] Mourinho did it; they all do it when they get their backside smacked. That will get him moaning about me again but I am not bothered. He even went as far as putting a DVD together and sending it to Keith Hackett. He doesn’t know I know that, but I do. I got on to Keith Hackett and told him I didn’t want it to influence what refs do because it is all a load of rubbish. He had a bee in his bonnet for a while.”

Ferguson and Allardyce claimed Benítez dismissed Blackburn with a hand gesture after Liverpool’s second goal last April, even though the Rovers manager did not witness anything at the time and everyone else inside Anfield that day suspected it was aimed at Xabi Alonso for taking a quick free-kick against his manager’s instruction.

But Allardyce said: “I won’t get an explanation for that. He is his own man and he does things his own way. I didn’t particularly like it. We were finished then because they got the second goal. They were terrific that day. Based on how well they finished last year I am very surprised they have gone through the turmoil they have in the past few months.”

Sam AllardyceBlackburn RoversRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier LeagueRefereesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk