Archive for Sami’s Opinion
I support Liverpool Football Club.
 | By Mohammed Sami Faizullah · Comments |
” Steven Gerrard picks out Joe Cole with a cross field ball, Cole with a lovely pass to the Spaniard, he gets past one, past two, rounds off the keeper and finishes it off with a superb strike. Fernando Torres- the man of the moment, a Kop Legend”.
Just last week i was dreaming of this. Those words were ringing if my ears as i anticipated the start of the new season. Having added Joe Cole to the squad, we would have a deadly front trio.
Alot has happened since my last post, and alot has happend since Joe Cole’s signing. Steven Gerrard pledged his future to the club, lets be honest- we had no doubts about that. But Fernando? Still remains a mystery.
Hes a world class striker, a legend in the making, probably the best of his generation, everyone loves him, i love him too. But i can proudly say i love Liverpool Football Club way more.
I would love it if Fernando would stay, hes probably been our best player of recent times and might still have something to offer. But frankly, his current situation is pissing me off. He, just like Mascherano are beginning to think that they are bigger than the club. Im going to give Torres the benefit of the doubt and truly believe anything once it comes from his mouth. But i would have appreciated it if he had already committed his future to the club. When asked about his LFC future, his reply “we’ll see after the World Cup”. When Kuyt was asked the same two days before the most important match of his career, his reply was far different.
No one is bigger then the club, not the owners, not the manager, nor the star players. Not Fernando, not Gerrard, not Fowler, not Dalglish. Liverpool FC is at the top. Not its players. If Fernando wants to go, we shouldn’t stand in his way. Even after what Hodgson has said to him, even after all LFC fans have expressed their love for Torres, even after whatever Purslow has told him, he still has to ‘think about his future’ then please be so kind as to leave us and ensure your new club drop off 50m to 60m. Even if Torres does stay now, i will see him as a different player, a player who wanted to leave but had to be ‘convinced to stay’.
Truth is that if he does go, we will cry about it and cry about how screwed we are, but with time we’ll realise that it isnt the end of the world. There will still be a big bright light shining at the end of the tunnel.
Again, i would love it if he stayed, and i know it would be nearly impossible in our situation to directly replace him with a single player. But we very well could sign two quality player who can remain fit. Selling a star striker for 50-60m who is bound to get injured at some point of the season and replace him with two lesser in quality but quality and fit strikers nevertheless isn’t that bad.
We might as well see Torres come out in the next few days and commit himself to our beloved club, but if he really really wants to leave, i wouldn’t stand in his way. He probably ‘deserves better’ than the best fans in the world.
I’m not jumping to any conclusions, i want him to stay, i hope he does, but if he is going to stay with the attitude of “I’m the best guy around here, I’m bigger than the club” then selling him wouldn’t be the worst option. Its all upto you now Fernando, its your choice. Hogdson has said he has done what he can, Purslow probably has, Gerrard has committed, Joe has signed, its your choice where you want to stay. LFC will always welcome you, but also LFC has a rich enough history and passionate enough fans to live without you. The balls in your court, its your choice. More of this will be well appreciated:
I support Liverpool Football Club. Not Fernando José Torres Sanz.
Im not going to make this a long opinion article or anything. Just some facts and quotes.
Martin Broughton had said: “There’s absolutely no reason to sell either Torres or Gerrard”.
But the problem after this was that there is a difference between the club not wanting to sell Gerrard and Torres and both of them actually leaving. Lets face it, all of us have feared that they might want to leave the club.
Since that statement and still, there are ‘EXCLUSIVE’ reports, articles, comments by ‘reliable’ sources stating that the two are leaving.
Theres an article on Monday morning stating Gerrard is joining Inter. No quotes. Tuesday Torres is joining Barcelona. Wednesday both of them are off to Man City. Thursday theres a break. Friday Torres is joining Chelsea. Saturday Gerrard is joining Real Madrid and on the Sunday addition of the paper/website, both of them are again joining Man City. One similiarity in all those articles, not a single quote. Just some opinion of some reporter who needs to sell his article. Media make flaterring headlines. Why? because they want to make a sale.
Imagine it this way. Theres a reporter, hes got inside information, in fact, he already has spoken to the respective manager about it. Hes got confirmed information that some player from Yeovil Town is joining Wycombe Wanderers. Its going to happen, and this reporter has got information about it two weeks before the actual transfer takes place. But he still doesnt write an article about it. Because no one is going to want to read it (No offence intended to either team). So the reporter instead just writes a huge article about Gerrard or Torres leaving the club. Everyone wants to read it. I read it too. It naturally arouses interest. But once i finish the huge article i realise that there is not a single quote. Its just an opinion presented like gospel. But in truth its just an article reviewing our poor season with the same thing said in five-six different ways and then leading to an assumption that Gerrard and Torres are leaving. Its all just a method of selling the article. They make money that way. When ‘EXCLUSIVE’ is put across an article it really is just a desperate attempt of the reporter to make people read the article. Thats all.
To prove my point that these reports are just false. Heres an example. There is an article doing the rounds about Gerrard stating that he will determine his future after the World Cup. The whole thing is made to look like he wants to leave. He did get a little ticked off when asked over and over again the same question about Liverpool. Who wouldnt? How may times is a man suppose to say the same thing? But anyway. The article is virtually on every website. But all the websites (because of one website) have missed out one particular quote of Gerrard. The reason that quote hasnt been mentioned is because if that quote was posted then any rumour of Steven Gerrard leaving Liverpool would not be true. I didnt know about this quote either until one poster pointed it out on a forum. Heres the quote that was left out:
The reporter asked Gerrard: “Where does your future lie?”
Gerrard said: “What do you mean?”
Reporter: “In terms of, you know, will you be at Liverpool next season?”
Gerrard: “Well I’ve got three years left so Iwill be. Yes.”
It is also mentioned that that statement wasnt a diplomatic answer. Stevie G said that like he meant it. And he did. He meant that. But it has been left out because now everyone would miss the opportunity to make false rumours and sell articles.
This has already been mentioned over here, but ill post it again.
“I am calm about Fernando” Reina said “I spoke to him about his future and he has told me that he intends to continue with us”
“Fernando suffered so many blows last season, but he is a professional and has always wanted to do well for us. That is what he remains – committed to this club.”
Dont believe everything you read.
Broughton has said that the club are not going to sell Gerrard and Torres. Gerrard has said that he is staying. Reina has told us that Torres is staying and thats where we stand right now until other quotes have been mentioned.
I said i would make this short. Sorry, cant help it. Once i start i dont stop !
YNWA.
‘That’ game against Chelsea.
| By Mohammed Sami Faizullah · Comments |
Carlo Ancelotti said its Chelsea’s most important game of the season. I can’t differ with him on that one. It probably is. It’s the game that could decide the title. And it has Liverpool in it. The 2009/10 Barclays Premier League title can indeed be decided by Liverpool FC. Its not the way I wanted us to decide the title, but it is a very crucial game.
There are immense consequences involved in this game. The biggest one, and the one which every LFC supporter around the world dreads- watching those scums lift no.19. I would hate to see, and I mean I would absolutely, to the core, freaking HATE to see those mancs lift the trophy for a 4th consecutive season. I absolutely hate that FA-loving/referee-loving/media-loving club even before I knew they were Liverpool’s rivals. I am completely disgusted by them. But for some reason, the FA just loves them. They hate us, and hate Liverpool city, but just LOVE Manchester United Football Club. The media thinks of Ferguson to be a ‘respectable man’. From what freaking angle?! Commentators are in love with them. Liverpool get knocked out of the Champions League- and the English media is happy. Chelsea goes, and the English media is happy that Jose did one over Chelsea, Arsenal go, and the English media say they were outclassed, but MUFC goes and all the media can say is “a very sad day in English football”. A certain Richard Keys who I had respect for until now, even went as far as saying—“Why is the away goals rule present”. It was fine until Manchester United got knocked out by it know?! The only reason I can think of that the media hates us and loves them is because back in 70s and 80s, when the current media personnel was younger, we were THE team, the team to beat, the most dominant and successful team, and the only team that came near us was united. And they were the team to stop our rise and provide competition, and that’s why they still hate us. That feeling has stuck with them forever. Even now. I cant say it enough, I totally, completely, from the bottom of my heart, from each and every cell in my body HATE THAT DAMN CLUB.
But im sorry, I love Liverpool Football Club too much. And that is why I cant see us ‘throwing away a game’. Any game. Many fans are suggesting we do just that. That we play a weakened side, give the game to Chelsea and prevent the mancs from lifting the title. Well, as much as I would love to see that not happening, I cant afford to see my beloved Liverpool loose a game. If we wanted to stop manu, we should have done it by ourselves, but not this way. Not at all this way.
People say that its just one game, there nothing at stake, and if the mancs win it, then us Liverpool fans are in a load of trouble. One year or many years of torture, insults, abuses directed at us cause the mancs overtook our record. Im willing to endure that torture as well. And there certainly is something at stake. Slim, but 4th place is still there. There is also the small matter of Everton right below us. Would you want to make this season worse by finishing below them as well?
The mancs are obsessed with us, we are obsessed with them. But sadly, in the last 10-20 years, they have been better than us. Way better in fact. I have to accept that with a heavy heart. United is always our benchmark. That’s the problem as well. They are saddened if they don’t win the title and happy if they do. We are saddened if we don’t win it, but satisfied if we finish above them. That has been our problem for sometime. The rivalry will always be there, but I guess its just time to forget about manu. As hard as it is. Maybe even impossible. Its only for the good of the club. If we can look to do better than ourselves, then we can look to do better then them. But right now, it looks difficult.
Coming back to the point. I know we would just kill to stop them from winning it. But is this really how we are going to do it. ‘Throw away a game’? Is that what it has come to? If we do that, then Liverpool Football Club will be at an all time low.
I want us to beat Chelsea. I hate accepting it though, but I wouldn’t be entirely broken if we failed to win that match. But, I want my team to go all out in that match. To play the match without thinking about manu, without caring for what the consequences are. I just want us to play that match with our hearts. And if we win, I want us to be happy, thrilled, no matter what the consequences.
Moreover, the FA have Manchester United chief executive David Gill on board. We put out a weakened side, then the FA are just going to have another reason to place a hefty fine on us. (They just love doing that).
And to anyone else who thinks that we should throw away the game. Ill ask you one simple question: Is this what Shankly would have done?
YNWA, and love to all Liverpool FC fans worldwide.
What can we do?
| By Mohammed Sami Faizullah · Comments |
I know that the first thing that comes to peoples minds is- blame Rafa!. And to support that, yes he does deserve blame. Ive said this before as well. The players too deserve blame. And im not going to go and blame this on our owners. Theyve been horrible in their duty, but our recent form is hardly even their fault.
Now we are having one of our worst seasons in recent times. At this point last season we were beating Real 4-0 in the UCL, and it pains me greatly to see Arsenal and Manu get emphatic victories now. Its only 1-0, it can and should be turned around. All we can do right now is support the team.
Im sure everyone is angry, ticked off, frusrated, depressed, words cant describe our emotions at this moment. When i think of a soultion to Liverpools problems when im having a debate, all i can say is “i dont know what went wrong”. And truly, where did it all go wrong from last season? Its not all the Alonso factor.
But im writing this as a sincere request. I said it a couple of months back, and that fact remains unchanged- Rafael Benitez is going to be manager of Liverpool FC until the end of the season no matter what happens from now till the end. He probably will be in charge beyond this season as well. But as of now it looks like his future is hanging in the balance. Im still going to support him. But i dont have the privelege of travelling to our beloved Anfield, but i requets those who will be going to not jeer the team. Please, we dont want the boo-boys. Anfield is still wonderful, the atmosphere is great. Its unfortunate we have had to hear fans booing their own team there. Truly that was the last place i expected that to happen. When i hear jeering in Anfield, its hurts me more than the loss in the match itself. I dont see the positive of conducting such an act.
Please, please, please still support Rafa, still support the players. Remember the kop pledge:
“Always support the team, no matter how bad they are playing.
If the team is doing badly, cheer even louder as they need your support more.
If a player is struggling, sing his name louder and more often as he needs it.
If the opposition are the better side and perform well, appreciate it and give them the credit they are due.”
I request those travelling to Anfield to allow their voices to be heard in support of the team/manager/players. Otherwise, STFU.
If someone can give me a valid reason as to how jeering the team will make this treacherous season better, then go ahead and jeer. But im confident that no one can come up with a valid reason.
This seaosn has been pathetic, hope it doesnt get worse, but come on you Liverpool fans!! Our team needs us! The players confidence is low, but if we show our support to them even in this woeful form, the only thing the players can say is “Wow! We love this club!”. We may not be the best team in the world right now, but we certainly can show that we have the best fans in the world. Its our time to take a stand, and make everyone in the BPL, and the world take notice:
“We our Liverpool fans, and we will always have Hope in our Hearts!”
Keep the faith.
YNWA
Realism or Optimism?
| By Mohammed Sami Faizullah · Comments |
Well, first of all, I still havent come to terms that THAT Liverpool side could loose to struggling Wigan. Its almost embarassing now.
Hicks & Gillett are to be blamed for our current situation. I support Rafa- but he also deserves blame. But most importantly- the players deserve to be blamed.
H&G may have not given enough funds for players, and probably been the main cause for demoralizing the team on the field because of the situation off the field.
This season Rafa’s tactics havent been up to mark. Instead of attacking teams like we attacked Real, Manu, and Villa in that great week, we are seen playing defensively even at home vs poor opposition. Lets face it- our football is slow paced and boring.
But even still, no matter what tactics we play, or players we have, last nights Liverpool squad should have finished off Wigan. But that wasn’t the case. Our world class players were giving away the ball cheaply, whereas Wigans players predominantly from the Championship showed class. No one in our team could provide a meaning full attack. But Nzogbia was able to take on 3-4 of our players at a time on more then one occasion. Emerson Boyce- their centre back on one occasion (when Torres got a yellow card), got past some 2-3 players from his penalty area, and took it to the Liverpool half! It was rightly said- ‘every single player gave the ball way cheaply in yesterdays game.’
Lets not take anything away from Wigan, they deserved all three points. We got what we deserved. But that game was for us to win. We should have, but with that performance- it wont be fair to the opposition if we got even a point. The players were frustrated. Kuyt shaking his head in dissappointment (for the performance) after he got subsituted summed up everything. On some occasions Kuyt chased down opponents, but when the ball was far from his reach, no one else seem to chase down the opponents.
A few weeks back, when Gerrards performances were below par, people said that he doesn’t have quality players around him other then Torres. But even Gerrard wasn’t great yesterday. He too was frustrated. The time when he couldn’t get the ball into an attacking spot, and just passed it to Lucas and made a sort of gesture to say ‘ you do something, no ones going forward, I cant do anything’ just proved how frustrated he was. Torres falling on the ground after one of his missed chances showed his frustration. Atleast we know that the players are as frustrated as us. But we cant do anything other then cheer louder and louder. The players have to perform on the field. I cant get my head round why they arent. You look at our overall squad- induvidually its actually VERY strong. Why it hasn’t worked out this season beats me.
Anyway, I think I have gone away from the topic I wanted to speak about. I think we should take a long hard look at the table and decide whats going to happen. We can still remain optimistic and say- we will finish in the top 4. Throughout the season I have said it, and have always believed that we will finish in the top 4. But we are reaching the end of the season, we have 9 games left, and I think we are at a point in the season where we should kick-in some realism. Heres how the table will look if Spurs, Mancity, and Villa win their matches in hand:
4. Man City- 55pts
5. Aston Villa- 54pts
6. Tottenham- 52pts
7. Liverpool- 48pts
That will mean we will not only be out of Champions League contention, but also the embarassment of being out of Europa League contention. Mind you, Birmingham can be 2pts behind us if they win their matches in hand. I think we should prepare our self for a worst case scenario. Not being in UCL is bad enough, but out of Europe??
My biggest concern right now is about our star players- im confident they will not leave. But they have to perform NOW for us to avoid embarassment.
I am a Rafa supporter, and always will be, but I think Rafa is more vulnerable to a sacking now then ever before. Im not sure how many fans will support him if we finsih outside the top 6. Wow, I cant believe ive actually had to say ‘finish outside the top 6’ in context with Liverpool. From last season which was suppose to be THE season, to this.
Something has gone horribily wrong, and someone has to fix it. This could be our worst season in ages. The Europa League is our biggest hope right now. We HAVE to win it.
I don’t think I have to say it, I know the fans still have it in them, but:
STILL keep the faith. We can get through this treacherous storm.
YNWA.
Turning Point.
| By Mohammed Sami Faizullah · Comments |
The Derby victory was an important one. Very important! We now go into a very difficult week in form. 7 games unbeaten and only a single goal conceded. What a high contrast from a few weeks back when we were in a run of some 6 wins in 20 games in all competitions. And with a blink of an eye, that has all changed. And this is for the media- we have achieved this with Rafael Benitez as our manager!
This victory also gives us a lot of confidence. Everton may not be the greatest teams, but the team will certainly be happy with getting a victory over our bitter neighbours, and that to with only 10 men for most part of the game. The passion may be rushing through their body right now. You could see it on the players faces, they were as passionate as ever. And if you were a player in this mood, you would want the next game to come as fast as possible. And thankfully, it is.
After the match last night, while the Spur-Villa game was on, I was looking at the live Premier League table, to see where we stand, and also Spurs, City, Villa etc. I just took a glance up (which I havent done much this season), and I noticed something, that got me more optimistic than excited. We are now just 5 points behind Arsenal. Just FIVE. But they have played one match less than us, so hopefully Chelsea can get a result their tonight (I would prefer a draw). A few more days, and everything could change. The fight for 4th place is intense, 3rd spot isnt that far away. We couldnt even look at 3rd spot a few days back, but what a month or two can do is amazing.
The fans are getting behind the team now, they are chanting Rafas name. Rafa had promised 4th spot. We are there. Just have to hang on for a few more months, or who knows, climb up a bit as well. Hopefully the financial issues are sorted out soon as well. Rafa had said before the game that a victory could turn their season around. That statement holds so much truth. This could really be the ‘Turning Point’.
“The city has two great clubs- Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves” – Bill Shankly
