The Liverpool Way - First Team

Probably the weirdest game I've ever been to. We knew this game was always going to be all about Steven Gerrard, but no-one could have predicted the astonishing events that unfolded in Cardiff yesterday.

"Don't blame Stevie" was the headline I woke up to this morning in the Daily Mirror. This from the paper that positively crucified Jerzy Dudek after the Leverkusen game, a game we actually won by the way let's not forget.

Well I do blame 'Stevie'. I blame him big fucking time. Not for the own goal, and not for the sitter he missed which would have settled the game only minutes before he drew Chelsea level.

No, I blame Gerrard for producing a thoroughly gutless performance, and for being the only player in the Liverpool side who didn't give everything he had for the cause (Kewell didn't cover himself in glory either). In fact, he hid, and at times it was like having ten men (nine until Kewell was subbed). Some fucking captain.

I've not said too much on the whole Gerrard debate up to now, as I was reserving judgement until this game was over. How he performed in this game was going to show a lot about how committed to us he really is.

Whilst he's been getting dogs abuse from some, I've generally held back from that, even when he's seriously tested my patience with his selfish attitude and untimely comments.

Given what he did for us last season I felt he deserved the benefit of some doubt and I was still hopeful that he could see sense and stop acting like such an arrogant dick.

Of course, there are also those who just can't stop kissing his arse and will defend him no matter what stupid comment he makes, or no matter how disinterested he looks.

Well let's see them defend him after this? Of course, the national press won't turn on him, as that doesn't suit their agenda, but for a lot of fans yesterday was a turning point.

All season the press have been building him up whilst knocking us down. The implication is always that he's too good for us, and that he needs to leave for a team that can match his talents.

Last season that would have been fair enough. The lad was brilliant and carried us almost single handedly at times. I haven't forgotten that, and neither has anyone else. It's why his name is still sung the loudest.

When games were drifting away from us, it was Gerrard who'd take it on himself to turn them back in our favour.

Whatever it took, he did it. Whether it meant him going out wide to exploit weaknesses in the oppositions formation, or if it was chasing back and making crucial tackles to prevent them scoring, he did it, and did it brilliantly.

Has he done that this season? Occasionally perhaps, but more often than not, he's just gone into his shell when games have started to get away from us. In fact, we've actually done better without him.

We'd have been much better off without him yesterday that's for damn sure. He was our worst player on the day, and I'll argue that point with anyone. He contributed zilch in an attacking sense, and little more in a defensive one. Biscan and Nunez were actually more impressive.

Compare Gerrard's performance with Didi Hamann. The German is ageing, and there's been a lot of evidence this season to suggest that he can no longer cope with two games in a week. His form has been up and down, but as a rule when we really need him, Didi always brings his 'A game'.

Yesterday he was as good as ever. He needed to be, because he was doing his own job as well as doing his captain's share of the work. Gerrard never even broke sweat, and yet somehow he went down with cramp after only an hour or so. What the fuck?

He's had the last two weeks off thanks to his self imposed Champions League suspension, and he walked around the midfield for most of this game. Then he collapses in a heap in the centre circle with cramp? I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Thankfully his little buddy Fat Frank was over in a flash to administer some tender love and care. Cue anger in the red half of the stadium.

I realise I haven't even mentioned the game yet, but I'm not done with our captain yet so please bear with me for a little longer.

'Stevie Me' is regularly giving it the 'show me you're good enough and I might stay' speech. It can't be easy for some of his team-mates, when they know that the captain has no faith in them and doesn't deem them worthy of sharing a dressing room with him. To be fair some of them are not good enough, but a captain needs to inspire, not demoralise his troops.

That's probably why they are achieiving better results without him. It's the same as the blues with Rooney. Since he left the Pit the blues haven't looked back, because now they are a team with everyone pulling in the same direction. No distractions, no dissention, just a squad of players all in it together, and all equal.

Right now that's not the case with us. Steven Gerrard is a big fucking dark cloud hanging over the club, and only when he is removed will we start to progress.

For many Liverpool fans the thought of him leaving is too scary to contemplate, and Rick Parry seems to think the same way. As a result, he's been allowed to say things which really shouldn't be tolerated.

He's also been indulged when his form has been poor. His name is still sung longest and loudest by the fans, and even though support for him on the forums is dwindling, inside the ground it's never been in question.

So I hugely resent the way some in the press are now attempting to lay the blame on his seemingly inevitable departure at the door of fans who've given him a lot more backing then he perhaps deserved.

Yes, a lot of fans turned on him at the final whistle yesterday. I know, I was one of them. But we had just cause, as he had just taken the piss out of us with the worst display of his Liverpool career.

It's not that things he tried to do didn't come off, it's that he just try to do anything. There was a crunching 50-50 with Lampard early on, and then that was it.

The magnitude of his apparent disinterest may not have come across completely on the TV. Inside the ground however it was all too obvious that he just wasn't interested. I lost count of the amount of times I saw him walking when others were trying to get forward and counter attack.

Steven Gerrard is a player who plays the game at 100 miles an hour. That's his game, it's what he does. Full blooded, full of energy and drive and determination.

Obviously there are days when it doesn't happen for him and his passing can be poor, but the effort and energy is almost always there.

Against Chelsea it wasn't. Hamann did twice as much work as him, both in attack and defence. When Liverpool counter attack, Gerrard is always the one leading the charge. Aside from a couple of occasions, that never happened in this game.

Gerrard's future has always been in his own hands. Liverpool desperately want him to stay, and any decision on his future has rested entirely with him. Maybe now the club should regain the initiative and stop bending over backwards to try and please him?

Tell him if he wants to go they'll help him pack. If he wants to stay, then he can sign a new contract and stop running his big fat mouth. If he says he wants to go, fine. We know where we stand and we can get on with things without this constant cloud hanging over us.

Drop him, sell him in the summer and for the rest of this season just make do with what we have. We won't be any worse off if his performances in the last month or so are anything to go by.

His talent isn't in question, and no-one rates him more highly than I do. Technically he has everything, and when his head is right there's no finer footballer in the land. But his head has clearly not been right for some time.

His attitude is a major problem at the club right now, and he has to be the worst captain in the country at present. When do you see him going up to players and geeing them up and encouraging them?

I watched him closely against Chelsea, and he didn't do that once. To many of us, Carragher is the captain in all but name. He's the leader, the inspiration, the one who leads by example and the most vocal player in the side.

Until now I could understand the reasoning for not removing the captaincy from Gerrard as that would give him the excuse he's looking for to spit his dummy and leave. The club want to keep him, and therefore they are trying to keep him happy.

But enough is enough now. His non-performance in what is the biggest game we'll play this season is the final straw for me, and Carragher should be given the armband immediately. I'd even accept it being given back to Sami, although I don't think he's vocal enough for the job.

I just don't want to see a Liverpool captain who is incapable of motivating himself, let alone others. Take him out of the side, give the armband to someone who the other players can genuinely respect and look up to, and just watch the performances improve.

As I said, I'd been holding back on taking a stance on him until after this game, but he showed his true colours yesterday, and sadly they aren't red anymore.

This game was always going to be the acid test. This was what he'd dreamed of since he was a kid. Captaining HIS team in a cup final. The fact he was facing Chelsea made things all the more interesting.

Would he be able to put aside his friendships with their players, and the all the speculation about a summer move to one side and show he was committed to us? I honestly thought he would do just that, I really did, even if most of my mates didn't.

Most of them absolutely despise Gerrard, but I was still fairly indifferent towards him. I wouldn't say I liked him, but I didn't especially dislike him either, and up until yesterday I wanted him to stay as there's no doubt that a fully committed and settled Steven Gerrard is a bigger asset than ANY signing we could make to replace him.

The problem is that we do not have a fully committed and settled Steven Gerrard. We have a half arsed, non-committed one, and frankly we're better off without it.

Maybe he'll learn something from what happened yesterday, see the error of his ways and re-commit himself to the club by signing a new contract and forget about leaving. If he does that, I'll happily wipe the slate clean and I'll be made up. Can't see it though somehow.

I thought that he'd be well up for this game, and that he'd lead us to victory, lift the trophy and realise once and for all what he'd be throwing away if he left his hometown club, and the fans who until recently absolutely idolised him.

I was wrong. There are only two reasons I can think of for his half arsed display yesterday. Either he just wasn't bothered, or he bottled it. Either way, it shows he's not the man we thought he was.

I find it hard to believe he'd just go out there and not try, even though that's how it looked. Maybe the occasion got to him, and he just couldn't handle the pressure (most of which was self inflicted it must be said). That would explain the total lack of energy, and the fact he got cramp so early in the game and after so little running.

I don't know what went on with him, I only know that I've never seen him look less interested in a game.

What pisses me off most is that in the bars and streets of Cardiff before this game, what was the song which was aired more than any other? The 'He's big and he's fucking hard' song, that's what.

He's had far more support from the fans than he deserves, which is why it's an absolute disgrace for anyone to say we are forcing him out (some prick in the London Evening Standard made that exact accusation today).

The tide may now be turning however, as there was raw anger and hostility from many at the end of this game. When he shook Mourinho's hand as the Chelsea fans sang 'there's only one Steven Gerrard' it was too much for some to take, and the abuse rained down.

Him shaking Mourinho's hand didn't bother me at all. What was he meant to do, push him away? There was nothing sinister in it, as the Chelsea boss shook hands with every Liverpool player. It would have looked far more dodgy had he not went to Gerrard.

Of course it wasn't nice to see, and I don't blame anyone who was pissed off by it, but for me there were plenty more worthy reasons to get angry with him than that.

It was the perfect story for the press though. First he misses an absolute sitter when it was easier to score, and then he scores an own goal which turned the game on its head.

The own goal was astonishing. It was a hopeful ball in, which was about to be headed clear by Carragher (I think Riise was also there ready to clear), but Gerrard just seemed to come across the front of them and placed a perfect glancing header into the corner.

I was angry at the time, but after a seven hour journey home (horrendous traffic) and a good nights sleep, I'm pretty philosophical about the o.g. now, but I'm still furious at the lack of interest he showed in the rest of the game.

Had he worked hard and looked arsed, there's no way I'd be criticising him now, own goal or not.

This was his chance to prove to us he IS committed to the club, and he IS a worthy captain. He failed miserably on both counts, and no amount of sugar coating from the national press can change that.

The Mirror actually gave him seven out of ten. The same mark as the magnificent Hyypia, Finnan, Dudek, Riise and Hamann, and two more than Biscan and one more than Nunez. How can anyone watch that game and make that kind of judgement?

Steven Gerrard has had just cause to feel let down by some of his team-mates in the past. Yesterday, they had every right to feel let down by him. The next time he opens his mouth about wanting to win trophies, I really hope one of the players asks him why he never bothered his arse into trying to win this one.

I expect some will accuse me of kicking him whilst he's down, or of singling him out unfairly. "How can you slaughter him after all he's done?" "Remember last season?" "He deserves better" "What kind of fan are you?" etc

Well if he's down, it's his own fault. We're all feeling down as well, but we couldn't do anything about what happened yesterday. He could. Running would have been a start.

The other players are down too, but at least they can look at themsleves in the mirror today and know that they gave everything they had for the cause.

Gerrard can't do that, because he knows he didn't give his all. If I'm kicking him whilst he's down, it's nothing to what he did to us yesterday. He said it would either be the best day of his life or the worst, and it turned into the worst.

It could have been so different, it could have been a great day. It SHOULD have been a great day. Liverpool fans took over Cardiff once more, and our support was magnificent all day.

The stadium was bouncing, and the booming out of YNWA from our section when the national anthem was being played was spine tingling.

A look around at the vast array of banners showed exactly how far ahead of Chelsea we are in terms of support. The pick of the bunch had to be the hilarious 'Lovejoy sucks big fat cocks' although unsurprisingly that was quickly taken down as soon as stadium security spotted it!

"Roman's taxes pay my giro" was another classic, and the big 'Meijer 18' flag also raised a chuckle. As for Chelsea, well a few St George's crosses with 'Chelsea' in it was the best they could do. Very original that lads.

Any concerns there were over the omission of Baros from the starting line up were quickly forgotten as Riise brilliantly volleyed in Morientes' excellent cross with less than a minute gone.

It was a dream start, and a finish typical of a player who is now looking like scoring in every game he plays. Riise is in great form at the moment, so much so that Kewell was employed on the right.

That didn't particularly work, as the Aussie made little impression. I don't remember him making any sort of contribution to the game at all, and we looked far better when Nunez replaced him (never thought I'd be writing that, but credit to Antonio, he played well).

The first half passed by in a blur. The only other goalmouth incident I can really remember was a decent penalty shout after it looked like Gallas fouled Gerrard. Not that Gerrard shouted for it mind.

He also stood by and said nothing as Chelsea's players continually dived and tried to get Steve Bennett to produce cards for our players. Would Keane or Vieira have just accepted that, or would they have been in the refs face telling him to sort it out?

There was no chance of us getting that penalty, as Bennett was giving us nothing. TIme after time Chelsea's front three of Cole, Drogba and Duff dived theatrically, and time after time Bennett fell for it. I used to like Joe Cole, now I think he's a little twat, just like the rest of his team.

Hyypia was booked after Drogba made a dogs dinner of an innoccuous challenge on halfway, and Traore was also harshly cautioned after a foul on Duff.

Whenever there was any kind of incident, Drogba would be on the scene running his mouth. That is one horrible fucking mouthy prick, but he fits right in at the Bridge.

Mourinho got in a slanging match with Carra, the cause of which I don't know as I haven't seen the tv highlights, before he was sent off for making a ssshhhh gesture to our fans. Chelsea's conduct all day left a lot to be desired.

Given some of the diving that was going on, it's to Sami's great credit that he got through the rest of the game, including extra time, without collecting a second yellow card.

Hyypia was absolutely immense, as were the rest of the back four. Traore dealt with Duff comfortably before having to go off with a knock in the second half, whilst Finnan was as impressive as he has been in every game he's played this season.

Carra was just Carra, and behind them Dudek had an excellent game. Whether he could have done better with their second goal I'm not sure, but he made several excellent stops and didn't deserve to be on the losing side. But then neither did most of our other players.

Riise was great again, and Morientes did his best under hugely difficult circumstances. Garcia I'm not sure what to make of. He gave the ball away cheaply too often, but the lack of options ahead of him made it difficult, and one thing I have to say about Luis was that he worked his socks off once again.

If he gave the ball away, he did everything he could to win it back. Whether or not his performance was good enough is open to debate, but the lad gave 100% and as long as a player does that I'm noy going to slag him off.

The only criticism I can have is that we gave them far too much respect. They aren't that good, and there's nothing in the Chelsea side to strike fear into opposing sides when Robben is missing.

Their strength is that they're solid and resilient. But we had the initiative after the early goal, and could have counter attacked with a bit more purpose I felt.

When we did venture forward we looked dangerous, but after half time we seemed to just sit back too much and invite pressure.

Kewell was brought off, which wasn't a surprise, but the sight of Nunez coming on didn't inspire confidence. In fact, at that point I was questioning Rafa's sanity. But Nunez proved me wrong, and actually did well I'm delighted to say.

He carried the fight to Chelsea, and gave us a balance which was never there with Kewell.

Hamann then started and almost finished a sweeping counter attack, but was denied by a great save by Cech. If anyone deserved a winning goal it was Hamann, but this just wasn't to be our day.

Morientes was far too isolated, and made very little headway. But then he couldn't really do much as there was never anybody around him. I would have liked to have seen Baros brought on for Garcia, just to give the Chelsea defence something to worry about and to try and push them back a bit.

When Milan did get on, it was Nando who went off. Baros did give us more of a cutting edge, and within seconds of coming on he played in Nunez, who delivered a great ball to Gerrard who had the simple task of finishing from four yards out. He failed.

Minutes later he'd found the net at the wrong end, and from that moment on I think we all knew we were screwed.

Then Dudek went down heavily and needed lengthy treatment. As the physio tended to Jerzy, I looked around the field at the players. They looked tired, and in need of inspiration.

I saw Carragher and Riise clapping and shouting encouragement, and I saw Gerrard stood in the centre circle with his head down, making no attempt to lift those around him.

The game looked up for us, and I was just hoping we could take it to extra time. When the fourth official signalled six minutes, I didn't think we'd make it that far. And yet we could, should maybe, have won it deep into stoppage time.

Baros broke clear and from almost the exact spot where Michael won us the FA Cup not so long ago, he blazed the ball over with his left foot. That was the game there if he could have scored.

So onto extra time, and we were now under a lot of pressure. Drogba hit a post, but the flag had already been raised for offisde, and then Biscan headed narrowly over when he probably should have scored.

For all their possession, we were coping ok and they were finding it tough to break us down. Basically, they're not that great, and couldn't play through us. But they are a threat from set pieces, and all three goals came from set plays.

The second was a long throw which Hyypia didn't win, and Dudek didn't come for. Drogba had an easy finish, but it was a terrible, terrible goal to concede.

The third was bad too, as we didn't deal with a cross, and when Gudjohnsen fired it back in Dudek could only parry the ball and Kezman (who is fucking shit by the way) just about managed to prod the ball over the line.

Some reds left after that, but many of them came running back in when seconds later Nunez climbed well to score his first goal for the club after Gerrard's free kick hadn't been cleared properly.

Biscan had a chance at the death to send the game to penalties, but chose the wrong option by heading for the near post instead of going across goal and Cech made an easy save.

The players had given their all (at least most of them had) and the chorus of YNWA at the end showed them we were happy with their efforts.

There were a lot of heroes for Liverpool yesterday, sadly there was also one villain.

Team: Dudek; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore (Biscan); Kewell (Nunez), Hamann, Gerrard, Riise; Garcia; Morientes (Baros):

Agree or disagree? Email me at dave@liverpoolway.co.uk

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