By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 22 Feb 2006

Finally! After 85 years of pain and frustration, we finally prevail over the mancs. It wasn’t the prettiest of matches, but the result in this case is what’s important. We’re through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which means that we only have to avoid losing in three more to lift the world’s oldest club trophy (for the seventh time). The FA Cup has always held the magic of knowing that it all comes down to one game. The better team on the day will win, regardless of recent form or even recent results against the same opposition.

Our recent form was not so great from the beginning of the year but had improved greatly with a grinding 1-0 win away at Wigan, and a comprehensive 1-0 defeat of Arse-nil at home. Man Ure had taken advantage of our slump and put themselves ahead of us in second place so that even with the two games in hand being made up, we are still three points behind them. The beginning of the slump goes back to that hugely disappointing last minute loss at Old Ratford a few weeks ago. That match had everyone but the mancs convinced that the Reds were the better side; not only on the day but for the season so far. Regardless of the expert opinions, it was still a loss for us and a win for them.

What we all wanted after that agonising loss was a chance for revenge. We believed we were the better side and wanted the opportunity to prove it. The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup gave us the ideal opportunity with a home date against the mancs. There was no shortage of reminders in the press about that recent loss and about how we had failed to beat them in a Cup match since 1921. It was also pointed out that Man Ure were a team that Rafa had yet to beat after four tries. There was no doubt that this was going to be another close one, probably with only one goal needed to decide the winner.

After all the excitement and all of the build up, the day finally arrived. Or should I say night? This was an early one for us, with kick-off at 4:30am our time. The doors to LSPH opened at 4:00am, and there were already a few dedicated Reds inside when we arrived at about 4:15. By the time of kick-off there were thirty plus, which is an excellent turn-out for such an early start. We looked the better side within the first few minutes of the match, and deserved the 19th minute lead from a Peter Crouch header. The defensive set up was as solid as ever, with the midfield taking control of the pace and the direction of the match. Every Man Ure attack broke down before getting into the final third of the pitch, which showed how solid we were compared to them. It looked like we should be able to hang on to the lead, and we did. The only other real talking point was Alan Smith’s injury at the end. At first glance it looked like he had twisted his ankle when he moved quickly to try and block Riise’s shot. It was tempting to begin a rousing chorus of “You’ll Never Walk Again” but after seeing the replay it was obvious that this was much more than a sprain. It was a horrible combination of a broken leg and a dislocated ankle. Cisse knows what it’s like to be taken out by such an injury and was quick to offer his sympathy and encouragement after the match. Let’s hope that he sees a full recovery in the shortest possible time. If Cisse can return to play after less than nine months following a similar injury, then hopefully Smith can as well.

The important thing for us is that we are through to the quarter finals. Last Monday’s draw gives us an away match at Birmingham (March-20). That should be one of the easier matches, since the only teams left are all Premier League clubs. Birmingham are down in the relegation zone; but, amazingly, Birmingham are also a team that Rafa has never beaten. Last season saw us lose both home and away, and this season gave us two draws. The most recent of those was the first match for Robbie Fowler on his return to Anfield. A late own-goal by Alonso was almost wiped out by a spectacular overhead kick from God, but it was ruled offside. This time it will be different of course. Rafa will have a better prepared squad to go to St. Andrews (but without God), and we should be able to take them without too many problems. My feeling is that they will not worry about losing in the FA Cup if they can concentrate on their league play and avoid relegation. The end of the season is in sight, and several clubs are worrying about their league position. For us, we have third place pretty well locked up, and we’re only three points behind second. But, with Man Ure out of Europe and out of the FA Cup, they only have twelve League matches after their Carling Cup final against Wigan to concern themselves with (best of luck to Paul Jewell, Stephane Henchoz, David Thompson and Neil Mellor). We also have twelve League matches to go, but we also have at least one more FA Cup match and at least two more Champions League matches.

The first of those Champions League matches was Tuesday’s first leg, away at the Estadio da Luz. Yet again this was another tight one. Possession was 50-50, the midfield battle was pretty even and neither side looked capable of breaking through to score. Rafa was looking for a 0-0 result to take back to Anfield, with the possibility of a counter-attack producing a snatched goal. That would be fine, of course, but it didn’t work out that way. An early unplanned substitution didn’t help when Sissoko took a high kick to the face, giving him blurry vision and requiring a night in a Lisbon hospital. Let’s just hope that the damage to the retina is not severe and we’ll be seeing him back in action soon. No knock on Hamann, but Momo was providing something extra in strength and creativity before he was taken off. He was missed for the remainder of the match but will hopefully be back for the second leg. In the end we were once again guilty of a lapse in concentration at a set piece, especially in the last ten minutes of a match, and found ourselves 1-0 down. There was nothing we could do at this point but look forward to the return leg at Anfield.

Fatigue must have also been a factor once again. I know it’s not much of an excuse but after 45 competitive matches, and with the emotions of the two most recent victories over Arse-nil and Man Ure, it’s only natural that the away match in Lisbon would not see us at our best. With that in mind, it’s some consolation to say that we “only” lost 1-0. We have a couple of weeks now to regroup and prepare for the second leg. For the next two weekends, we have two home matches against Manchester City this coming Sunday (live on TheScore, 4am Feb-26, repeated at 8am) followed by Charlton on the following Saturday (March-4). That’s about as good as we could hope for in terms of the schedule. Two at home against lower opposition should present no problems and hopefully give a confidence boost. It also gives a chance to rest a few players and allow Fowler, Agger, Sissoko, and any others, a chance to recover and get their fitness levels back up.

I don’t need to remind you of some of the great European nights at Anfield: St. Etienne, Auxerre, AS Roma, Barcelona, Olympiakos, and Chel$ki, are just a few. There’s no doubt that we’ll be up for this one with the crowd doing their part as they have done so many times before. My guess is that we’ll come out flying and get an early goal. Then we’ll go for and get the winner. Benfica won’t know what’s hit them by the final whistle. The first leg – second leg scenario could be described as: The eagle may soar, but Anfield will roar!

One final note to tie the last two matches together.

Q: what do you call eleven millionaires watching the Champions League on tv?
A: Manchester United.

As of next season we've got a new sponsor -- or should I say we're going back to Adidas. Adidas has bought out current sponsors Reebok in Europe and here's a picture of what the new kit'll look like.

Personally, I remember some of those kits as being pretty bad (My 'Fowler 23' shirt with big itchy collar still sits in my closet, along with other Adidas anomalies for us) but their quality was sturdier than Reebok's as all my Reebok stuff starts to pill pretty quick. I do think the newer Reebok stuff is ace but Adidas could top it with the right kit. Hard to tell in photos but the collar looks dodgy.

More pros than cons for us Reds out on this side of the water, Adidas will have better availability and probably a bit cheaper, better marketed product (couldn't be worse than Reebok's CL shirt fiasco) and hopefully other perks will be available as well...especially for us Canadian supporters...

P Gill

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