There was much speculation that the lads would be tired, jet-lagged, stressed or otherwise unfit to play after a disappointing loss in the final against Sao Paolo. Going to Japan on a winning streak was obviously good for the confidence, and surely made the first match against Deportivo Saprissa that much easier. The potential problem after a loss is that the confidence may be gone and that the aftermath of the trip may cause an overall sagging in the team spirit. The journey home always seems to be so much longer and more tiring after a loss. For those who don’t know the history of this club, the usual reaction is that we pick ourselves up after any disappointment and get on with the next task to be placed in front of us. Think back to 1977 and the loss in the FA Cup Final, followed a few days later by the win in Rome to give us our first (of five in case you need reminding) European Championship. In the present case, we have to come home for a few days rest, followed by four games in eight days that can make or break our season. Pressure, what pressure?

We left for Japan in second place, ahead of Man Ure on goal difference. While we were gone, the rest of the league played two more matches, and as a result we fell all the way down to third, ahead of Tottenham on goal difference but of course with two games in hand. Now that we’re back, we have the chance to pick up as many points as possible while hoping that those around us can drop a few.

The first test to come along arrived on Boxing Day in the form of a suddenly resurgent Newcastle United. Former Anfield legend Souness had overcome a poor run of results and was starting to get his boys to put together a few wins. Former Anfield hero Michael Owen was back to his scoring ways with a hat-trick against West Ham. This was looking like being an opportunity for Newcastle to grab a point or three from us, putting them in a good position while making ours more difficult. Of course, that’s not the way it turned out.

As soon as the whistle was blown, the Reds ran rampant against a stunned Newcastle side who looked like they were the jet-lagged ones. It was one-way traffic as Morientes and Kewell had good scoring chances denied by Given in the opening few minutes. The one touch passing was fast and furious as wave after wave of attack went forward. The inevitable opening goal came after only 14 minutes when Crouch took the ball on the edge of the box, took control and laid on a perfect sitter for Gerrard to blast into the net. Crouch got one for himself at 41 minutes when a ball lofted into the far post was headed down toward the goal. Given got a finger tip to it but only managed to push it onto the post, whereupon it bounced back and off the top of his head, ending up just over the line. The fact that Given touched the ball before it crossed the line means that the “dubious panel of experts” will have to rule on whether this was an own goal or not. No question in my mind; just as in the first one against Wigan, it was Crouch’s goal pure and simple. Then again I’m no “expert” on such things.

The second half was a much more restrained affair with the Reds easily controlling the play and easing up on the tempo to save their energy for the upcoming matches. Newcastle rarely threatened and the end result was one more clean sheet for Reina and the lads, making a run of 8 straight clean sheet wins in the Premier League. The only incident really worth talking about in the entire second half was the sending off of Bowyer. To think we were close to signing this psycho a few seasons ago! Souness then has the gall to say Crouch should have been sent off at the same time, and Gerrard later has to answer for a shove on the “untouchable” Shearer. No big deal, one more under the win column for us and three more in the important column to the far right. After all the hype and hoopla about the return of Michael Owen for his first match since leaving, he doesn’t even show up.

On to the next match, two days later, which just happens to be across the park against our good(ison) neighbours. This could easily have been, and was widely expected to have been, one of those hard physical matches where they try to kick lumps out of us and stop us from getting anything going by constantly hacking us down. Their strategy was believed to be that holding us off for the first twenty or thirty minutes would be enough to frustrate us and put us off our game. By doing that, they may just get a point out of it. That is, if they are really lucky. Again, the actual result turned out to be very different from the expected.

The opening tempo was fast and furious with the Reds controlling the play with their precise one touch passing. Several changes from the starting line up against Newcastle were made, including Cisse, Warnock, and Sissoko in place of Morientes, Riise and Garcia. Rafa had said earlier that he intended to rotate players over the next few matches. It’s comforting to know that he can do this without losing out on overall performance. It didn’t take long for a counter attack to allow Gerrard to head the ball neatly into the path of the charging Crouch. His timing to beat the offside trap was perfect, as was his control of the ball in pushing it forward and rounding Martyn to score into a gaping net. No doubt that this one is all his; no expert analysis required. Gerrard scored yet again when a poor clearance from Martyn left him in enough space, at about 25 yards out, to tee up a shot and blast it goalward. A slight deflection on its way left Martyn rooted to the spot and the ball was bursting the net. Not yet twenty minutes gone and we’re two up. So much for their grandiose plans to shut us down.

Unfortunately, the Reds eased off too much later in the first half, allowing the toffee men back into the play. The clean sheet streak ended in the forty second minute with Beattie scoring from a clear header to the far post to beat Reina. I don’t mind the streak ending as it has to end some time. My main concern was that it could have been just what they needed to get back into the match and cause us problems in the second half. Again, the actual result was not what might have been expected. It was the Reds who came out flying at the start of the second with a great goal from Cisse. For this one, he showed his burst of speed down the left flank, cut inside and had only one defender to beat. The expected cross to the middle didn’t materialise and it looked like it was going to be a wasted run. But instead, Cisse sized up the opportunity from his tight angled position and placed the shot past Martyn, just inside the far post. Any blue ideas of getting back into this match were over with that strike. The blue bitters were now the frustrated ones as they tried to hack their way back into it. Neville managed to get a loud cheer from the crowd at sixty eight minutes. That is, it was a loud cheer from the Red section as he was sent off for a second yellow card. That makes my day almost complete; can it get any better? Arteta followed Neville’s example in injury time and was also sent off for two yellows in the space of five minutes. The only disappointment today was that I would have liked to have seen four or five instead of three, but let’s not be greedy. Nine wins in a row should be enough to keep us content, even if the clean sheet streak had to end at eight.

Three days, two matches, five goals for, one against - six points out of six. Chel$ki gave up two goals against Fulham on Monday meaning that we are now tied for lowest goals against with nine each. Man Ure’s draw and Tottenham’s loss today put us solidly in third place, three points up on fourth place, and four points out of second place, with two games in hand. The difference between our inconsistent form of last season and our steady form of this season is almost beyond belief. We have a much stronger squad this season, with plenty of options in terms of player selection. We are definitely not a one man team. Each area of the pitch can be covered by several players which allows for the luxury of resting some players when the fixture list becomes congested. Today’s match was a good example with Morientes, Garcia and Riise on the bench, along with Josemi and Dudek. Keep in mind as well that Hamann should be back soon from his injury, as well as having more players like Pongolle, Mellor, Carson, and Traore available if needed. Our only long term injury for this season is Zenden, who is probably out for the rest of the season with a damaged knee. I’m really looking forward to the opening of the transfer window next week. Last year we were only able to pick up Morientes and Pellegrino in January, both of whom were cup-tied for the Champions League. This year Rafa is rumoured to be looking for several players to further strengthen the squad. The word is that he’ll have the money to spend to get what he wants. If that’s true and we do sign even just one or two players, then we can only get better.

Next up: home to West Brom on Saturday, followed by an away match at Bolton on Monday. That will take us to the half way point of the season; let’s hope it’s a good ending to a great year.

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this is where we'll put little notices and things. Jokes, buy/sell, anything LFC related.

a new Red: As some of you may have seen, we've virtually got Dutch international Jan Kromkamp from Villarreal for Josemi. Sounds like Kromkamp can play right back or the elusive right wing position, and I'm imagining that this isn't the right winger Rafa's been touting but more a like-for-like on Josemi. Josemi apparently hasn't really settled and his family were missing home so he's off.

We're looking to sign a centre-back as well, with Daniel Agger of Denmark heavily tipped as well as others. You never know with rumours, but I personally feel with Rafa that he'll pleasantly surprise us all with who he brings in. Good on him to recognize Josemi isn't working out and to deal with it quickly rather than have Josemi rot here for years, a la some of Houllier's signings.

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