LMAO

What is this bullshit?! No, really. What is it?

I don't even think I've got the energy to go into all the reasons this would be the WORST move in history. But I'll do it anyway. Hey, someone might read this, see I make sense and stop writing this crap every two weeks.

• Dahveed Veeyah has said time and time again, he wants to stay in Spain. I know us Liverpool fans like to think we're in Spain because of our large Spanish contingent, but I promise you, Liverpool is in England. Therefore outside his requested zone and making this transfer highly unlikely.
• The stingy American bastards that currently own Liverpool giving up €49 mil for a striker who is currently at his peak and probably won't play at this level for more than 2/3 years after this...yeah, not happening. Actually, the likelihood of them giving up €49mil for anybody is pretty damn low.
• Veeyah and Torres can't play together on a regular basis. They're both strikers that play better when they're up front alone, so playing together, one of the two would have to play off the main striker. And that's kind of Steven Gerrard's current position. While he's versatile enough to play wherever the manager tells him, just off the striker is probably his best position.
• Neither Veeyah or Torres would be happy with being a benchwarmer, so alternating them would kind of fail. If you have unhappy strikers, they don't perform and it would kind of be a waste of a total of €70mil or however much the two of them added up to.
  
• The EPL is so far from Veeyah's style of football, it's unreal. There's no way he'd be as successful as everybody thinks he'd be if he were to move to Liverpool. He does well in La Liga because he can play his way without getting seven shades of shit kicked out of him because he's too good and they can't handle him.
• Liverpool may well be able to afford buying him, but realistically, they're not going to keep up his wages etc for however long his contract would be. And you'd better believe that if he stops performing, they're not going to want to be paying him obscene amounts of money each week.
• Veeyah has signed with Valencia until 2014. And his buyout clause is some crazy shit. Liverpool cannot pay that. Nobody can. Except maybe Man City or Real Madrid, who can seemingly pay anything.
• And on top of all this, Veeyah has been leaving Valencia for the past 4 transfer windows at least if we're to believe what newspaper reports tell us. He's still there. That kind of says more than I could. End of discussion, case closed.
  

Now please, can we stop with the lolz? As much as I appreciate you people writing articles that make me giggle, it gets kind of old when you hear it week in, week out.

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Football shirt collections...

Ok, so a while back, Vanilla Bear did a post about her collection of football shirts, and I promised in the comments I would take pics of my shirts when I get the printing for my Valencia shirt. Well, that arrived yesterday, so here's the post. I have 2 Liverpool shirts (Owen and blank) over at my mum's, as well as my England shirt (yes, you can really tell which NT MY priorities lie with...) but this is the rest of them. I guess I will do this in chronological order, because it's easiest that way.


So, the first one was actually my Owen shirt, but I don't have a pic of that, so you'll have to imagine it and we can move on. Next in line was the Gerrard shirt.

Then after that, it was the England shirt I think. I don't even remember when my dad bought me that. *shrugs* It's the reversible away one. And then there was the Agger shirt...
After Dagger, I think the next shirt I bought was the other Liverpool one that has no name on the back. The one I don't have a pic of. Then I think I went a while without buying any shirts, and for xmas my dad got me this:
I bought a kids Spain shirt online after that, because it was only £9.99 and like hell I'm missing out on that price!
Then one day in Brighton, I went on a major shopping spree for football shirts and bought the following:
I did want to get Masch's name on the back of the Liverpool one and Veeyah's name on the back of the Spain one, but the kids shirts are a little too small to fit Mascherano on the back and they didn't have the right printing for the Spain one. Pfffft. They're all currently blank, but I'm going to get them printed at some point. Honestly, I have a problem.

And then after all of that, I still wasn't happy. I'm a Valencia fan, yet I didn't actually own a Valencia shirt until this season. Mind you, I'm glad I waited until now, because Valencia Experience - BEST. SPONSOR. EVER. (You know, aside from the fact they didn't actually PAY the team anything...) Anyway,I currently have two. Trust me when I say that number WILL grow.


I still NEED a Veeyah shirt. I don't much care whether it's a Spain one or a Valencia one, but I need to buy one. It might possibly be the new Spain one. Or maybe next season's Valencia shirt and I'll get Albiol (or Marchena) on the Spain one. *shrugs* I still don't know. Also, I want to buy a Barca shirt with Xavi's name on the back. I don't support Barca. I'm not even sure how much I like them tbh, but I like Xavi so yeah...

I need to get a Liverpool shirt with Sami's name on the back as well, because he is such a club legend, it would be shocking for me to not own one. No really, I have a problem. I'm going to end up with more football shirts than anything else in my wardrobe at this rate.

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Thank you for the fail Liverpool.

But no, really, thank you. At least there was a bit of fail on Tuesday to put a smile on my face during my otherwise miserable birthday. And at least the people ate UEFA were nice enough to make it so the Liverpool game was the day after my birthday. Still, last night was appalling. On so many different levels. The team that went out against Chelsea last night had NOTHING in common with the team that beat Man U and Real Madrid last month. Except the name of course. They were poor, it's as simple as that. They played for 10 minutes, went a goal up and seemed to think that was game over. Well, obviously it was not. The 3-1 scoreline at the end only goes to illustrate that. I will not be able to ever figure out what the hell Lucas was doing on the pitch last night. We may as well have played with 10 men, we'd probably have done better. He was like a 12th man for Chelsea, not one of his passes was accurate, he lost possession way too easily and he was the biggest fail in the collective vortex of suckage (thanks to Erin for that phrase) that was Liverpool last night. I can't even get over it. It's the first game I've been able to watch since the Real Madrid game, and I could probably be forgiven for being a little cocky and thinking we'd win this for sure. I wasn't asking for another miraculous scoreline of 4-0. 1-0 would have done. Taking a lead to Stamford Bridge, no away goal for Chelsea, a job well done. Instead, we go into that game trailing 3-1, needing at least 3 away goals to give us a chance and quite frankly, they need to bring it hardcore, because playing like they did last night, they'll be lucky to get ONE goal in the second leg.

Well, the one good thing to come out of that game is that if I do manage to find a way to watch the second leg while in Valencia, I don't have to put up with John Terry's smug little face because he got booked last night and will miss the second leg. *does happy dance* Also, can they PLEASE stop fucking whining about the yellow card? First Terry spouts a load of BS about it not being fair and how Liverpool crowded the ref asking for the yellow (I'm sorry, but er...Pot. Kettle. Black.) and now Lampard is in on the act too. I don't want to insult anyone here, but grow up, yes? It was a yellow card. He went in hard and headbutted the goalkeeper in the chest when the ball was long gone. You know you'd have wanted a yellow if it happened to your goalie, so shut up and put up. And for the record, yes I would say the same thing had Skittles gone in like that on Cech. I don't believe in team bias when it comes to decisions made in the course of a game, everyone deserves an equal chance.

Call me bitter, and I probably am, but I don't think Chelsea were the better team on the night because they outplayed Liverpool or showed anything particularly special. They were the better team on the night because Liverpool simply stopped playing. Still, it was a deserved win I suppose, and I am sort of not really looking forward to the second leg next week. It's sure to be a good game if the Liverpool from previous games show up instead of the Liverpool from last night.

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Weekend round up

I have been made of total fail where match reports have been concerned lately. Sorry about that. I have several pretty good reasons though. Firstly, I have been crazy busy with work and uni and I've just not had time to sit down and write a match report. Secondly, I miss almost every single Liverpool game played, and I refuse to write a report on something I haven't seen. And thirdly - Valencia hadn't been winning at all until the past two weeks, and quite frankly, I don't want a permanent reminder of that on the blog. It's sucky and I hate it. Anyway, they are back, and back with a vengeance this week, so I'll do a report. There's plenty to talk about!

I did miss the first half due to work, so again, I cannot comment on exactly what happened until I get a stream. I have however seen the first goal - great pass from Silva, great goal from Mata. That's really all I need to say. The second was a penalty just minutes later, which was promptly put away by Dahveed. Yes he's back, and yes he is still scoring. Words cannot express the level of love I have for that man right now. I don't think it's any coincidence that he comes back from a combination of suspension and injury and suddenly the team scores the same number of goals in one game that they'd managed in 4 games before that. Anyway, the first penalty was apparently debatable and I'll have to find a way of watching that before I comment, but it has to be said, players go down a lot easier in La Liga than they do in the Prem, and referees are a lot quicker to give fouls. This is the only thing I do not like about La Liga.

Anyway, I came back in time for the second half, ready to watch Valencia seal a 2-0 win. Sadly, the prat of a referee had other ideas and gave a PK to Getafe withing 5 minutes of the restart. This confused me more than anything, because there was no foul at all. If anything, it was a foul by the Getafe player on Albelda, but no, the referee had pointed to the spot and that was that. 2-1. It didn't take long for Valencia to get their 2 goal lead back though, Raul Albiol making a rare run forward and cooly slotting the ball into the back of the net. The captain CAN score in the right goal. Do it more please.

And then just two minutes later, Dahveed was in with a great chance to make it 4-1, but he was felled by the Getafe goalie. The referee gave the third PK of the night and sent the goalkeeper off. Things were looking up for Valencia, and with a cool head, Dahveed slotted home his second penalty of the night. Vicente came on for Silva with a little more than 10 minutes left to play, and then my telly proceeded to almost kill me by showing a close up slo-mo of his thighs while I was having dinner. I visibly drooled. A little warning would be nice next time people.

Liverpool won 1-0 after a very tense game, the winner being scored by Yossi Benayoun in the 93rd minute. This was enough to put them clear at the top for at least a day, albeit with two games more than Man U. The post was once again not their friend, and watching the highlights of the game, I think I lost count of how many times they hit the post in the first half alone. Anyway, Yossi came to the rescue, and even if it wasn't one of their best performances as a whole, they still got all 3 points, and at this stage of the season, that's the most important thing.

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CL and birthdays...

So, I have less than a week until I turn 21, and I am so not looking forward to it at all. In the slightest. Of course, there's the small miracle that Liverpool play their first leg of the CL against Chelsea the day after, so my birthday won't be ruined. Anyway, just for reference, I'm going to post a rundown of the last however meetings the two teams have had in the CL of late. It's a lot. And it sucks that we have to play them again. Like...change is good people. Try it.

So, the first meeting in the series came back in the 2004/2005 season. The first leg was at Stamford Bridge and finished 0-0. The second leg, played at Anfield, finished 1-0 to Liverpool. Even then, there was much controversy over the 'phantom goal' and there was people questioning whether the whole ball had crossed the whole line. To them, all I have to say is - no goal = penalty for Liverpool, Cech sent off and you playing with 10 men for the rest of the game. It would have been a loss anyway, just a more humiliating one. Deal. And you know, there's no shame in losing to the eventual winners anyway, right?

Then the following year, we drew Chelsea again. This time, we met in the group stages. Both games finished 0-0. Quite frankly, these games were already developing a reputation for being unbearably boring and with very few goals. Still, the likelihood of the two teams playing again any time soon was small right?

Wrong. Next year along and you guessed it - Liverpool vs Chelsea again. Another semi final. It seemed the people in charge hadn't learned their lesson yet, and Chelsea won the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Again, there was only one goal in it, and when Daniel Agger scored the opening goal in the return leg at Anfield, you could just sense it was going to penalties. After 180 minutes of football, with the score tied at 1-1 with no away goals, extra time and penalties beckoned. Liverpool held on during the extra time period and Pepe Reina was the hero on the night, Liverpool scoring 4 of their penalties to Chelsea's 1 and made it to the final where they eventually lost to Milan.

UEFA weren't done yet though. For the fourth year in a row, there was a Liverpool-Chelsea tie in the CL. Again, it was in the semi final. This time, the main difference was that the first leg was at Anfield. Liverpool took the lead through Kuyt and it was heading towards being another bore until Riise put the ball into the back of his own net in the 94th minute of play. The second leg was perhaps the most entertaining game played between these two teams in the CL, but that didn't take much effort. The game finished 1-1 in normal time, and it was decided in extra time, just one goal in it. Had Riise not scored that OG in the dying minutes in the first leg, perhaps we'd have had an entertaining final instead of one that made me want to blow my brains out. Still, no point in looking back now.

And then, we come to this year's CL. Again, there HAD to be a Liverpool-Chelsea tie in there somewhere, I'm convinced the people in charge of the draw don't think the competition is valid unless these two teams bore us to death play each other.

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CL Draw

Ok, so this is how the games from here to the end of the CL competition will be this year.

The quarter final draw is:
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v FC Porto
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich

The semi final draw is:
Villarreal/Arsenal vs Manchester United/FC Porto
Liverpool/Chelsea vs Barcelona/Bayern Munich

So, basically, my reaction to the draw. First up, the quarter finals...well, surprise surprise, Man U got the easy draw. This is football, and anything is possible, but I think they'll make the semi final. I didn't really want to see Villareal play Arsenal either because I like both teams. Barca have been unstoppable in La Liga this year, but in Europe, they've seemed shaky at times. I don't think this is going to be an upset, they're the favourites and I think they'll go through, but Bayern may well get something out of the games if they are quick out of the starting blocks. As for Liverpool's draw...AGAIN?! Are you fucking kidding me? I am so sick of Chelsea. Every year, you can GUARANTEE that Liverpool-Chelsea is in there somewhere. What, is it not a proper competition unless those two teams have played each other? Well, I suppose I can at least thank my lucky stars I'll have gotten to live for a day as a 21 year old before the urge to blow my brains out through boredom takes over.

And the semi finals? Well, it was inevitable that the draw would make English teams meet in the semis too if they get past the quarter final stages. UEFA really don't like the fact the the EPL is currently dominating Europe, which is kind of good in a way, because I watch the EPL all the time and the football's not the prettiest there is...having said that, all four teams are clearly very strong and deserve to be where they are in Europe. I don't like the idea of Liverpool vs Barca. I'm pretty confident we can beat them if it comes to that, we've done it before. And lets face it, it's not a worthwhile victory if you don't beat the best on the way. Liverpool play better as underdogs. They always have done, and probably always will do. It suits them because it takes the pressure off them and they can focus more on the task they have to do.

So, basically, having to potentially face Chelsea and Barca, Liverpool have the hardest draw and the hardest road to the final. I bet we'll see them there though, and if that happens, whoever their opponent is wants to watch out. The final is in Rome. We ALWAYS win in Rome.

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Weekend = fail

I don't even want to go into what the fuck happened in the football this weekend. Liverpool were fail. Valencia were fail. The whole bloody weekend was fail. Except Barca losing, that was not quite so fail...

But anyway, I don't want to write a match report quite frankly. I'm getting sick of writing the same stuff over and over when it comes to Valencia. Vicente's not starting. When he comes on, the team plays about 359482 times better. The next game, he's on the bench again. Seriously, what does he need to do to get a starting spot??

Because I don't want to write anything and pics tend to make me feel better, have some:

Oh Albiol :(

The guy is having such a bad run of late, I don't even know what to say. I thought Marchena was supposed to be the one that couldn't defend...

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Midweek round up

Liverpool were amaze. I love Yossi. My thinner beaver ♥
I'm going to be sensitive to the Real Madrid fans that I know read my blog and I won't say anything else. You know where to go for the official views on the game by now anyway.

Valencia. Hmm. Unai is totally in my bad books right now. He had a massive talk with Vicente about this like 3 days ago, yet STILL he does not let the boy play. Why the fuck not? What's going on? If you can find a way to accomodate Marchena in midfield, then damn right you can make room for Vicente! Jesus.

Dynamo went a goal up. Dahveed equalised. Goal disallowed for offside. Story of my (and Valencia's) life. And then...then MARCHENA SCORED!!! He's sort of my hero right now. No, it was not a case of mistaken identity, it actually was him. So, end of the 1st half, score 1-1. All even. If it finished like this then extra time beckoned.

Of course, Valencia don't do things like that. They went 2-1 up thanks to a goal from Del Horno, and then fucking threw it away. Again. The defence needs a serious kick up the backsides, because they are letting the team down. It's all fine and dnady scoring boys, but it means fuck all if you can't stop the opposition doing the same. And so 2-2, Valencia out of the UEFA cup and left to concentrate on La Liga and getting into the top 4. If you screw this up Unai...

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Well...

Well, that's ok Arjen. We hate you too, you diving, cheating, snivelling, pathetic excuse for a footballer. Seriously, I know babies that have better balance and don't fall over as often as you. That dive that got Pepe sent off...yeah, I still remember that.

Funnily enough, at no point in the article does he mention hating Liverpool, that's just the journalists twisting his words. But still, it's not a very nice thing to say. It's hardly their fault they were better than you and beat you twice.

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THE SMOOCH!

Well, this is pretty much old news. Very old news in fact. But I just wanted to go back to the days when Liverpool won things, Stevie and Xabi were very much in love and all was right in the world.

It was the kiss that sent the slash world into overdrive and all the fangirls went totally gaga over it. I was one of said fangirls. I did have the video clip of this too, but I don't remember where I've put it. Sad days :(

Oh boys. I miss those days. Please make everything better again.

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Weekend round up

So, this weekend was a pretty collective fail. Liverpool drew 1-1. Valencia drew 1-1. I was sad. I know I promised a proper match report today, but I really don't want to relive that. Instead, you can go here to read a fan's views on the Valencia game, and here to read the official Liverpool view on that game.

If I did do a proper report, it would consist of 'WTF?!' and 'You motherfucker' and probably even 'WHHHHYYYYYY????' so I'll spare you the whining.

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Weekend round up

Sorry this is late again. I only just got to watch the Liverpool game and I didn't want to write one of these without being fully informed. Before that, I'd only seen the goals. Liverpool were rather baffling to start with, it was mostly the babies starting. Ok, so not mostly the babies, there was actually a lot of first teamers. But there were 6 defenders to start with. SIX of them!! I don't think Pompey's strikers are that good, and if they are...why the heck did we sell Crouch to begin with?


Anyway, the first half was sort of boring. The six defenders were doing a good job of keeping Portsmouth from scoring, but the lack of firepower was painfully obvious as they went in at half time 0-0. There had been several missed chances already, but it was good to see Agger and Skrtel playing together. That's a partnership for the future. Babel missed an absolute sitter with 58 minutes gone, completely missing the ball. The redeeming factor for him was that he was deemed to be offside, so the goal wouldn't have counted anyway had the ball gone in. Just minutes later, Liverpool went behind, David Nugent scoring after 62 minutes and taunting the Liverpool fans by holding up fingers to indicate the scoreline in the defeat to Everton. Smug bastard was laughing on the other side of his face later.

Pompey's lead didn't last too long, a back pass from Crouch which James handled leading to an indirect free kick, which Aurelio calmly slotted in. 1-1 with 22 minutes of play remaining. Dirk Kuyt scored a goal that should have put Liverpool a goal up, but it was wrongly disallowed for offside. The golden boy of the moment came on with 15 minutes left and those 15 minutes were Liverpool's strongest. Despite the fact they went 2-1 down just minutes after his introduction, a Hreidarsson header restoring their one goal advantage. With 12 minutes left on the clock, Liverpool were facing only their second defeat of the season. However, this team does not know when to give up. Kuyt scored from an impossible angle on 84 minutes after some great work from Torres. The momentum was on Liverpool's side, and nobody was really too surprised when Torres scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute, a wonderful header creeping past David James' outstretched hand and into the back of the net. 3-2, all three points to Liverpool and top of the table for at least a day.

As for Valencia...bullshit. That's all I can say about that. 1-0 to Osasuna. Unai continues to baffle me by leaving Vicente on the bench despite the fact that when he came on in the final 20 minutes, they were Valencia's strongest minutes. The defence was fab for 89 minutes. The one minute they lost concentration, they got punished. Just pull it out of the bag next week boys. It's Valentines day. You owe me some romance after all the shit I put up with from you.

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Ugh.

This is my message to Everton:

This is my message to ITV:

This was my mood last night:

And this was my mood on hearing the news about Stevie this morning:

Basically, those few smilies sum up the football. I can't even make a proper comment on it. Read here for the official match report. If you can bear it.

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What. The. Fuck.

I totally meant to blog on this yesterday, but I got so caught up in the excitement of the snow, I sorta...forgot.

Anyway, I would just like to say that the FA is a load of bullshit. I pretty much knew they were incompetant twats for the most part anyway because of the number of things they have dealt with all wrong in the past few years especially, but this takes the biscuit! How the hell can you send Frank Lampard off for making contact with the ball (I still think it was justified btw, and I would say the same had it been a Liverpool player tackling a Chelsea player) and not send Bosingwa off for kicking Yossi to the ground with absolutely NO intention of even going for the ball?? I mean, has the world gone mad?

Now, I understand that the FA cannot do anything about it because the incident was spotted by match officials, which begs the question, WHY THE HELL DID THEY NOT SEND HIM OFF???? Was it Mike Riley re-evaluating Lampard's red card, thinking he was probably wrong about it and deciding to be lenient for the rest of the game? Because if that's the case, let me tell you, football does not work like that. Bosingwa's foul (which was totally the wrong sport, I don't get where karate comes into football) was a red card offence whichever angle you look at it from. He made no attempt to play the ball and he stuck his studs, albeit gently, into a fellow professional's back and kicked him to the ground. He should go.

To really rub salt into the wound, I am almost certain Lampard will get his red card rescinded, which means that Chelsea will get away without losing any key players. If you ask me, if they're that desperate to get Lampard's card rescinded, they should ask the FA to transfer it to Bosingwa instead so he can serve out the suspension he should be serving. If not, let Lampard serve it out. At the end of the day, ONE of them should serve out the ban, and if the FA aren't going to make sure the correct one does, then the other one can. I'm sorry, but fair is fair.

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Weekend round up

FUCK YEAH! This weekend was totally epic in so many ways. I mean, first off, Rafa won the tennis. This made me pretty darn happy. It was down to the football to carry that good mood on. While the rest of the world may have laughed, I was adamant both my teams could win their games.

Liverpool were at home to Chelsea. Winning would take them back up to second, and two points behind Man U, albeit with a game more. The game was a typical Liverpool-Chelsea encounter for the first 60 mins or so. Liverpool had the better chances, Cech was the busier keeper, but the score remained 0-0. Then a tackle from Lampard on Alonso earned him a red card and left Chelsea down to 10 men. Many may say that it was not a challenge worthy of a red because he clearly got the ball, but quite frankly, I don't give a shit how much of the ball he got. The fact of the matter is his foot was way too high off the ground for it to be deemed safe play and had Alonso's foot been planted on the ground, that was a sure leg breaking tackle. Correct me if I'm wrong, but breaking someone's leg, whether accidentally or not, is serious foul play and that is a red card offence. Still, I won't get into that, because Gerrard should arguably have gotten the same punishment later in the game for a similarly ugly tackle.

Anyway, after all that time of just no goals, there was only ever going to be one man to change the score. Back from injury and hungry for goals, Fernando Torres did not disappoint the adoring Kop, scoring the first goal of the game in the 89th minute. Just a few minutes later, he was scoring the second, sealing the result and keeping the Kop singing. Aside from the controversy surrounding the red card, there was nothing Chelsea fans could say about the game, it was one which was dominated by Liverpool from start to finish and the red team deservedly walked away with all three points in the bag.

Also, before I move on, can I just say how utterly VILE Bosingwa is? What he did was just inexcusable, I don't give a flying crap if Yossi was stalling by the corner flag, lifting your foot onto his back and kicking him to the ground is just NOT ON. I want to know what the fuck the assistant referee was thinking when he chose to ignore that really rather red cardable offence.

Valencia climbed closer to third place with a hard fought win over Almeria. Joaquin opened the scoring on 6 minutes, but it was a tense game. Almeria equalised on 22 minutes through Negredo. Their joy wasn't to last long though, a foul on Mata in the penalty box giving Dahveed Veeyah the chance to put Valencia 2-1 up, and he did exactly that. The first half finished 2-1 to the home team.

The second half was just as tense and closely fought, and Valencia extended their lead on 62 minutes, again, Veeyah with the goal. Their 2 goal cushion was short lived though, Almeria reducing the defecit just 3 minutes later with Negredo also getting his second.

The Valencia defence could still do with a lot of work, and they sorely miss the presence of Alexis and Albiol. Marchena is far too temperamental and it was his error that lead to Almeria's second. However, Cesar was looking quite impressive for a goalkeeper who has not played too many games in recent times. That's not to say Valencia don't miss Renan, because they do, but Cesar should give the faltering back four a bit more confidence. Dahveed missed a chance to get his hat trick goal, but Valencia got the 3-2 win.

And basically, the weekend was great. Both my football teams won for the first time in ages, Rafa won the tennis and I am happy.

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The Liverpool skillz train...

Ok, so when I did the Valencia post, I promised I would do a Liverpool one too, and this is it. First off, we can start with a recent bit of skill, because it is practically orgasmic.

That goal has got to be one of the best worked things I have ever seen. Nando's ball control, Stevie's composure. Just guh. I love them.

Anyway, one of my favourite playes in the squad is without a doubt Fernando Torres. He has skills beyond what is expected of any striker. He's capable of scoring, yes, but that's not all he does for the team. He is tall and strong, able to hold off defenders and in his first season in the Premier League, he was on fire. He became the highest scoring foreign player in a debut season, proving his class with a range of different goals. He was also one of the most important players for his country at the Euros. He scored the winning goal in the final, ensuring Spain got their first silverware for 44 years.

And of course, you can't mention skillz without mentioning Steven Gerrard. The midfielder has often been the saving grace for Liverpool, with influential performances in the games that truly mattered. He makes last ditch tackles, scores goals, commands the midfield and all with ease. There's no wonder he's a fans favourite with performances that win his team games and boost morale.

Then we have Xabi Alonso. Easily one of the best passers in the game, Liverpool's midfield suffers without his presence. In the CL winning season, the partnership he formed with Gerrard saw them control games from midfield, and his dip in form coincided with a poor run for Liverpool too. As well as this, he scores from his own half.

And then we have Daniel Agger. Due to injuries, we've not seen much of Dagger in the past season and a half, but his talent and importance to the team are undisputed. He is also capable of unleashing a fierce shot, as West Ham will tell you. Or you could just watch this:

There's basically so many skillful players in the Liverpool team, I would find it virtually impossible to show them all, but that doesn't mean I rate them any less. Pepe has been our most consistent keeper for years, the rest of the defence is solid and does a great job keeping the goals out, and the midfield is one of the best in the Prem on their day.

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Midweek round up

Liverpool. Oh Liverpool. Why do you insist on doing this to me? Do you hate me so much, that you make me suffer despite the fact that I have NEVER given up on you? I mean, fucking Wigan. Come on boys. Sort it out, this just ain't good enough. Without a win in 2009, that is beyond pathetic. And as for Rafa and his bizzare decisions of late. Ugh. Rafa, I believe in you. I know you can perform miracles. Just please don't let it get to the stage where you NEED to be performing them. Not every fan is as patient and understanding as the Kickette girls, and quite frankl;y, they want to see results. Subbing your best players in a game we should have won comfortably but were never really close to is not the way to go about it. Especially when there was no apparent reason for you to do so. I mean, I get that there's the Chelsea game at the weekend, but what's the point in having all your players fit at the end if they have nothing left to fight for. Liverpool have lost far too many points this season from drawing against teams they really should have beaten. The inconsistency of this team kills me sometimes. I know they can do it, so why don't they? They went ahead through a brilliant goal by Yossi Benayoun from a virtually impossible angle. It was all going swimmingly until Lucas felt the need to give away a penalty. I don't understand why, with people like Xabi Alonso on the bench, Lucas was even on the pitch to begin with. That moment of stupidity he had could potentially cost his team the title shot this year, and I hope he realises that. I hope Rafa realises it too because I am at my wits end when it comes to Liverpool. They need to pull their fingers out and realise they're not just playing for themselves, they're playing for the millions of fans that believe in them too and what they're showing right now just is not good enough.

Valencia took a 3-2 advantage into this Copa tie. The winner would get a spot in the semi final against Athletic Bilbao. However, they had to get there without there top scorer this season, Dahveed was ruled out with the muscle problem that saw him limp out of the reverse fixture last week and miss the weekend fixture against Mallorca.

They started ok, and found themselves a goal up within 7 minutes, Joaquin's corner being met by Marchena. That put them with one foot firmly in the semi finals. Cesar had a relatively good first half, and having an experienced goalkeeper behind them seemed to calm the back 4 (though still not to the extent that Marchena could avoid a booking. He was lucky not to get sent off after handling in the penalty area shortly before half time. Note to him - scoring a goal does not mean I will overlook your stupidity). Still, Sevilla levelled things up on 35 minutes. They started the game without Diego Capel, but similarly to last week, the manager felt he was needed and called him on. Sevilla look a totally different side with him on the wing.

They suffered the cruelest of fates though. Just minutes before the final whistle, the conceded a second goal. The goal that knocked the holders out of the cup and meant Sevilla progress to the semi finals. I would wish them luck, but right now, the only words going round in my head are 'fuck you'.

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Weekend round up

Ok, I realise this is a bit late. It very nearly didn't even get typed up, that is how shitty the footballing weekend was. Not ONE result went the way I wanted it to go. This isn't even going to be a proper match report, because I don't want to go into what happened in the games.

The Valencia game...yeah, total disaster. They lost (in the DYING MINUTES!!!) because Fernandes felt the need to give a penalty away and get himself sent off. Ugh. Like Valencia didn't have enough players missing. The horror started way before that though. Renan hurt himself taking a goal kick and had to be subbed off in the 40th minute. Now there's reports that he's going to be out for 4-6 weeks. Excuse me while I go cliff myself. Not that I don't have faith in Guaita. It's just...baby keeper with THAT defence? Yeah, doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Then Dahveed asked to be subbed off in the second half because he felt a little off. He's said he'll be ok for the Copa game tomorrow though. Thank God. The one thing that baffled me more than anything though - Vicente played an absolute BLINDER against Racing. He was all over the pitch. He scored twice (the second of which effectively put Valencia through to the next round) and yet Emery left him on the bench. As if that wasn't confusing enough...he then didn't play him until the 80th minute or something equally ridiculous. I mean come on, he's one of the best left wingers in the business, you're really going to leave him on the bench when you need goals? I'm going to leave the ranting about the defence for another day. It'll probably be a long post.

And then. Then, there was Liverpool. A win would have taken them to the top of the table. They nearly got it. Yossi gave away an absolutely stupid corner in the 85th minute or thereabouts. Tim Cahill scored the equaliser from said corner. The Liverpool defence - they did a Valencia and just went missing. Well, not missing. They were there, but not one of them was marking Cahill. I mean, of all the players to leave unmarked in the box, you pick Cahill. The most dangerous player in the Everton team when it comes to set pieces, and you just leave him to score the goal that would guarantee Man U remained top. I despair sometimes, I really do. Stevie's goal was great, and was probably one of the only highlights of the game. Nando missed an absolute sitter in the first half. Robbie Keane - the less said about him, the better. You know things are bad when you see your team pay £20mil for a striker and then don't even realise he was playing until he was subbed off. Just please, sort it out boys. You're too close now to throw it all away.

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I need to stop (epic post alert)

I don't even know how many of the most recent posts I've done have had something to do with Valencia in some way or another. I guess it's just because I haven't been seeing so many Liverpool games lately. I miss the CL, it needs to hurry up and come back so I can watch them play and remember what I'm missing out on. The last time I saw a Liverpool game live on the telly/internetz was Boxing Day, which is way too long ago. I know that I spend a lot of time ranting about Valencia on this blog, and this is because I see them play almost every week. Although it may not really seem like it sometimes, Liverpool are and will remain my first team. It's just that lately, I've been thinking about what would happen were they to play Valencia at any point in the future, and I think I can safely say I would not know what to do. I don't want either team to lose, but I want them both to win. Impossible, huh?

Anyway, seeing as I haven't really paid much attention to them lately, I figured I'd do a post on all my recent (and not so recent) memories of Liverpool just to let them know that I still love them and I'm still very much a fan. I guess the best place to start on this post is the beginning. I first started watching Liverpool when I was 11 years old. It feels strange that I have been following this team for nearly half my life. It all began with Michael Owen, as you will most probably remember from this post. In fact, it was so long ago, the Liverpool site doesn't even give results back that far. It starts from 1999. I became a fan in 1998. Back then, I didn't understand much about football. I think it's pretty safe to say, I understood nothing. It was just this sport I watched from time to time, but the more I watched, the more I fell in love. I don't even remember too much of my first few years as a Liverpool fan, I was still learning about the game and the players. All I seemed to care about back then was the looks, the talent didn't even cross my mind. I'll be the first to admit that when Steven Gerrard first made it into the Liverpool line up, I wasn't particularly a fan. It wasn't until the 2000-2001 season I finally started seeing past the looks and to the talent. That was the season Liverpool won the UEFA Cup, Worthington Cup (now the Carling Cup) and the FA Cup and it's probably one of the first memories I have firmly embedded. Michael Owen was still my favourite player at that time. Steven Gerrard became my new favourite the season Rafa came to Liverpool and Owen left for bigger things. The Real Madrid subs bench mainly. I never did understand that decision :(

I went to my first live game at Anfield at the start of the 2002-2003 season. Well, I say start of the season, it was actually the pre season friendlies against Lazio on 30th June 2002. I still remember the game (sadly), Lazio won 1-0. I was sat right near the match control room, and saw the goal really rather clearly. I think I swore, but that may just have been the Kop letting the Lazio players know what they thought of that scoreline. This was the season Liverpool beat Manchester United to lift the Worthington Cup. I remember watching that final, I went crazy screaming when Owen scored the second. Sadly, that year, Liverpool finished 5th, just outside the Champions League places, meaning they had to be content with a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season.

The 2004-2005 season is the next one I have big memories from. Rafa B arrived at the club from Valencia (and I think that's another reason I like Valencia so much, they gave us Rafa) and performed miracles to get Liverpool to the CL final. Who could forget that? It had everything. Drama, goals, lucky breaks. At half time, 3-0 down, I really thought that was game over. A small part of me still believed they could do something, ANYTHING to lift the cup, but I didn't think it would actually happen the way it did. I was ready to put my pyjamas on and go to bed when Gerrard got the first. I decided to sit and watch a bit more, and when Smicer got the second just minutes later, I just KNEW that cup was coming home to Liverpool for good. In a crazy 6 minutes in the second half, they got the score back to 3-3. Since then, I don't think I have been as nervous about any game. The FA Cup final the following year came close, as did the Spain-Italy shootout in the Euros in 2008, but Liverpool-Milan tops them all for me. I got so drunk that night, I think I turned up to my exams the next morning with more alcohol in my bloodstream than I had blood. Probably why I failed them really...
They finished 5th in the Prem that year, and only the CL win gave them entry to the competition the following year, on the condition they played from the very start and qualified. Everton weren't best pleased of course, but who gives a shit? They got knocked out of the first qualifying games of both the CL and the UEFA Cup. There's only two teams in Liverpool boys. Liverpool and the Liverpool reserves. The great man Bill Shankly said so himself.

Rafa's second season at Liverpool brought more silverware, this time in the form of the FA Cup. The final that is now known as the Gerrard final because our captain was immense. Say what you like about the man, but his heart and soul goes into every game he plays and you can see how much each win means to him. I would say something cliche along the lines on 'cut him open and he'll bleed Liverpool red' but er...duh! We all do. If you don't, go to the doctor. Seriously, there's something wrong if your blood is not red. The game was again, full of drama. It had many similarities to the CL final the previous season, and the scoreline was the same come the final whistle. Two seasons in English football, two trophies. Not bad going for a newbie.

The 2006-2007 season saw Liverpool once again reach the CL final, where they would once again meet AC Milan. Sadly, this game didn't quite end the same way as their previous meeting. In all fairness, Milan deserved to win the 2005 final and Liverpool deserved to win this one, so justice was served. Over that summer, the boss was busy in the transfer window and the start of 2007-2008 saw a new arrival at the club. Fernando Torres. His first season in the Prem was an absolute blinder. He was easily the best player for me personally that season. He became the highest foreign scorer in his debut season, an honour which had previously belonged to Ruud van Nistelrooy. Had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo and his many free kicks and penalties, Torres would have been player of the season. He was outstanding in every way that mattered. And then, to top off a great season with Liverpool, he went on international duty with Spain and scored the winner in the Euro final, giving Spain their first major trophy in 44 years.

And so we get to the present season. The closest run race for the title I can remember in years. It's not just a two horse race this year. And the best thing of all...Liverpool are one of those horses. Sitting pretty at the top, they've had some memories to be proud of so far this season. Beating Man U and Chelsea for starters. This is the most points Liverpool have gotten against the other teams in the big 4 since Rafa B arrived, and there's still 3 more games to go! Fingers crossed it all goes well, and this IS the year we win #19. I know I can't wait to see how this will all pan out. Despite all the frustrations against the likes of Stoke and Fulham this year, it's the best I've seen Liverpool play in a long time. They're more confident, it's the strongest team I remember watching in my 10 years as a fan and they're hungry to win things. Ok, so that last point is not much different from other years, but this season, they're showing that hunger on the pitch and (mostly) getting the results when it matters. And when they don't, the other contenders (mostly) slip up too.

I realise this post is about 55000 words long, feel free to wake up now. I just felt the need to get all this off my chest because see for yourself how much attention Liverpool have been getting lately. Ever since I started working weekends, it's basically been...none. I promise I will try to change that.

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Weekend round up

This is becoming a bit of a habit now, but if Liverpool insist on playing at a time I can't motherfucking watch them, then I'll just have to keep linking you up to the official match report. Sometimes, I wish I could just not bother with work, I miss my weekends.

Still, my Spanish boys are rather a lot nicer, and they play in the evenings, so I can usually catch the games. Valencia started the weekend in second and a win would see them finish there, regardless of other results. The started very brightly indeed, scoring in the first minute. In fact, I'd barely had time to change out of my work clothes and into my Valencia shirt. They were back to their counter attacking best, and the chaos of the midweek Copa del Rey game seemed to be totally forgotten. Dahveed then scored to make it 2-0, though his goal celebration had me a bit confused. Could there be another Veeyah baby on the way? The less said about that, the better I think. Mata had a goal disallowed for offside (how many times have I written THIS since the start of the season??) and Silva had several missed chances, but overall, they were the better team. Renan had a great first half, I'm choosing to ignore the few WTF moments he had. And then, just before half time...Villareal scored. 2-1 at half time.

The second half...well, Mata was fouled but no penalty was given. Ok, in all fairness, it would have been a slightly harsh PK, he did get the ball before the man. But still, bb Mata is not a climbing frame for your enjoyment, thank you. In terms of fouls and bad blood, this wasn't much like a proper derby. Sure, there were fouls, like in any regular football game, but nothing too extreme. Then Del Horno came on for Moretti just past the hour mark. Dahveed missed another good chance to score, but the lengthy close up I got of him when he got up made it all worth it. Albiol got subbed off on 72 minutes (and I really hope it's not a serious injury, he got ice on it straight away, whatever it was) which was kinda depressing, because Valencia cannot afford to lose any more defenders right now. And then, not too long after that, Silva put in a fab cross, only for Dahveed to put the ball over from about 3 yards out. Don't ask me how he managed that, it seemed a lot harder to put the ball out than to score. The nightmare happened on 76 minutes. Villareal equalised. It wasn't a nightmare for long though, Villareal had only been level for about 2 minutes when Edu scored to make it 3-2 to the home team.

Vicente and Alexis were in the crowd watching. I am still rather mad at Vic for being an idiot and getting sent off against Racing, Valencia really could have done with him out there today. But he looked hot, so I won't complain. A goalmouth scramble in 89 should have lead to a Valencia goal, but somehow, the ball stayed out. It was a very interesting game though, one of the reasons I love La Liga is that the dramz carry on right up to the final whistle. It finished 3-3 and that leaves Valencia third following Sevilla's win earlier. I just hope the teams below them lose/draw so they stay there.

And just because I feel this was a big moment for him (and we all know how I feel about that armband...) Santi was captain :D

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