As you all know Rafa is fast approaching his 100th consecutive game with a changed starting XI. In honour of that feat LFC Vancouver is starting a ‘Guess the Starting XI Contest’.

RULES:

• Only open to paid LFC Vancouver Members.
• You list the names of the players you think will start the next LFC match.
• You must submit your list to lfcvancouver [at] gmail.com at least 12 hours before kick-off.
• This contest will include every match that LFC plays this season. Starting with Blackburn.
• The member(s) that correctly guess the starting XI will be awarded 5 points.
• At the end of the season the player with the most points will win the prize.
• What is the prize? It is a surprise!
• The standings will be included in each week’s newsletter.

You can send comments or questions to the Andy [at] lfcvancouver.com.

YNWA/JFT 96,

Andy Neumann

By LFC Vancouver member Steven Speed, 30 October 06.

What a fantastic week it’s been for Liverpool fans. A fabulous performance in the Premiership was followed by early qualification to the Champions League knockout stage. What a crisis!

When I woke up on Saturday morning I was filled with a slight touch of nerves. I had recorded the game to watch with the other members at LSPH and didn’t know the score, I have to admit after last weekend I was dreading having to face the unbeaten Aston Villa who’ve been rejuvenated under Martin O’Neill. To be honest I was just hoping we wouldn’t lose. Not for a second did I dream that not only would we win but achieve it by playing with style and flare. The first half performance was probably the best we’ve played in the Premiership this season. The entire team deserves praise for the positive attitude displayed but there were also some terrific individual performances worth pointing out.

Dirk Kuyt is absolutely brilliant and I think we may have got a bargain with him. Not only does he finish clear cut chances he also works his socks off chasing lost causes and putting pressure on defenders. He’s all over the pitch the entire time he’s on and still manages to be in the box at the right times. I definitely think there is a lot of potential in a partnership with him & Crouchy (or anyone to be honest).

I’ve said it time and time again that Peter Crouch has looked likely to score every time he has started this season. His confidence looks to be sky high and he isn’t frightened to go for half chances, the finish for the second goal was superb. The shot didn’t really look on as the cross was going behind him but he somehow got his foot round the ball and put it right in the corner of the goal.

Steven Gerrard put in his first big performance in ages. It looks like he is getting back to his best and I fancy him to score an absolute belter against Reading. It was great to see him get the freedom to come inside whenever he wanted and he just looked so dangerous at times. When he goes running through the middle at defenses it is marvelous to watch and it’s something we haven’t seen too much of this season. His run that led to the third goal was just terrific and that entire move was pure vintage.

Sami Hyppia was terrific too, he made some wonderful long passes and his knockdown to Kuyt for the first goal couldn’t have been more perfect.

It’s been ages since I’ve truly enjoyed watching a Liverpool game from beginning to end and it’s about time we put in a full ninety minutes. We should have scored another three in the second half as we continued to break down the Villa defense. It was great to see us not try to defend a lead and allow the opposition to get at us.

During the build up to the Aston Villa game the big story centered on a club director publicly questioning Rafa’s abilities as a coach. We are all upset at the performances so far this season, especially away from Anfield, but like the majority of supporters I believe he is probably the best coach in Europe. The un-named director was out of order and this is a matter that should have remained internally within the club.

However in saying that, such public criticisms must be affecting the team and I believe that was a key motivator before Saturday’s game. The players clearly felt they had something to prove to a lot of people.

It was nice that the Liverpool board issued a public apology today. Shame though that the individual who criticized him in the press turned out to be Noel White who has been a director of the club for twenty one years. I even remember him standing in as chairman during the transition period between John Smith and David Moores.

It was fabulous to hear the fans singing Rafa’s name throughout. I know a number of people who were at the game and they have told me that the fans in the stands and in the pubs are all completely behind Rafa and the team.

That tremendous game was then followed three days later with another great performance against Bordeaux in the Champions league. I said to some of the lads in the pub before kick off that I fancied us to score a few goals and I wasn’t disappointed.

Luis Garcia had another great game, which he crowned with two superbly taken goals. Gerrard finally got off the mark in excellent fashion with a good goal calmly slotted past the keeper.

The only two things that could have made it even more perfect for me would have been a first goal for Sissoko or a goal for Fowler. Momo came closest with a terrific shot right at the end only kept out by a good athletic save from the goalie.

We have now qualified for the knockout stages with two games still to play. This represents our best ever performance in the group stages. It’s a great feeling to know we will still have top quality European football to look forward to in the new year. I’m extremely relieved we won’t have to travel to Turkey needing a result as that would have been terribly difficult and nerve wracking.

I close with a brief mention that ridiculous rumor going around in the media last weekend regarding Gerrard being sold. I think the best response to that is to quote the man himself during Sunday’s press conference - "I've never read so much bo**ocks”.

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

Standings as of 3 November 06.

Rank	Member	Points
1	Glenn Whyte	0
1	Ste	0
1	Lance	0
1	Keith	0
1	Quentin	0
1	Andy	0
1	Dave Curtis	0
1	Dennis	0
1	Mark Ashton	0
1	Glenn W	0

It has been four matches and no winner yet! The contest is not as easy as one would hope, don't forget to email your starting XI for the Aston Villa game.

To enter the members contest see the rules above.