Liverpool FC Forum

[5 stars]

Here's something interesting on the Steven Gerrard front...

Meningitis scare for daughter of Reds skipper

Oct 24 2006

Liverpool Echo

STEVEN Gerrard rushed his six-month-old baby Lexie to hospital in a meningitis scare, it was reported today.
The Reds captain and his fiancée Alex Curran parked in an ambulance bay and ran into Whiston hospital carrying six-month-old Lexie, a newspaper report said.
Lexie was suffering from a rash and a temperature.
Hospital sources say she and her parents stayed overnight.
Yesterday Lexie was given the all-clear and returned to the couple's Formby home.

Reports say she had fallen ill on Saturday night while being baby-sat by Gerrard's family and doctors now suspect she had an allergic reaction.
A club spokesman said: "We don't have a comment, it's a personal matter."
Whiston hospital staff said they were unable to comment.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv....ge.html

[account deleted by request]

Here's something interesting on the Steven Gerrard front...

Meningitis scare for daughter of Reds skipper

Oct 24 2006

Liverpool Echo

STEVEN Gerrard rushed his six-month-old baby Lexie to hospital in a meningitis scare, it was reported today.
The Reds captain and his fiancée Alex Curran parked in an ambulance bay and ran into Whiston hospital carrying six-month-old Lexie, a newspaper report said.
Lexie was suffering from a rash and a temperature.
Hospital sources say she and her parents stayed overnight.
Yesterday Lexie was given the all-clear and returned to the couple's Formby home.

Reports say she had fallen ill on Saturday night while being baby-sat by Gerrard's family and doctors now suspect she had an allergic reaction.
A club spokesman said: "We don't have a comment, it's a personal matter."
Whiston hospital staff said they were unable to comment.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv....ge.html

I posted that this afternoon in the Gerrard thread.

I hope shes ok though, and Stevie has enough problems without this.

[5 stars]

I posted that this afternoon in the Gerrard thread.

I hope shes ok though, and Stevie has enough problems without this.

Yeah same here, I hope he can clear his head for the Villa match. Must of been hard to deal with the idea that your child might have meningitis.

Here's Something from RAWK about Gerrard trying force the issue on Rafa about playing in his prefered position...

Gerrard, and his friends or advisors, believe that the general public are influenced by the media. They're quite right, any analysis on Sky Sports or the major football correspondents is generally repeated here shortly afterwards, almost word for word as if it were original thought. They want to bring public pressure to bear, to build a bandwagon to force the issue on Rafa.

The 'murmurings from the Gerrard camp' are scapegoating Alonso, who has actually outperformed Gerrard overall this season, and in the games where they've both been in centre-midfield - Gerrard squanders possession, shots and doesn't do half the tackling a centre-midfielder should - even an attacking one.

The beauty of unattributed briefings to the press, which lead to stories such as the ones above, is that you can always pretend that there's 'no evidence that Gerrard or any of his 'camp' are scapegoating a team-mate, Alonso (not that the Gerrard camp or their scribes provide evidence for "Alonso’s performance deteriorating with every game").

This story, like the ones SFX planted with The Times and The Telegraph in the build up to the contrived breakdown in his contract negotiations, is evidence.

Gerrard also put his own head above the parapet to make his point when he was promoting his autobiography, followed by his ghost writer who echoed him.

It was a very matey pre-recorded interview with John Barnes, to hook up with Gerrard's book promotion...

...They discussed his preferred position, and the variation in positions he's played in the last couple of seasons. Gerrard said he was always happy to be picked, wherever he played, but he believes his best position is central midfield, and he's confident Rafa would eventually see it his way too.

Then back to the studio, and Henry Winter yarns on about how 'talismanic' he is; the near Beatlemania surrounding his book signing; and how effective Gerrard is in central midfield (giving the Istanbul final as an example!!!), and how he's not so happy always being out on the right.

[Since then he's been picked on the left]

I wonder why that was...perhaps Rafa was making a point of his own?

Anyway there's far more evidence for the murmurings from the Gerrard camp and them trying to undermine Alonso's position, than there is for your opinion that Gerrard had a better game than Alonso against Galatassaray.

In that game he only made 5 tackles throughout (winning 2), Alonso made 11 (won 5); Gerrard lost the ball 7 times and only won it once (very poor for a central midfielder looking to secure that spot for himself), Alonso lost it 9 times but won it 7 times. Gerrard got forward and had his shots, he was much more interested in 'bombing on' (or emptying the midfield space as Souness put it) than tracking back when Galatassaray were flooding forward. Momo had to be brought in to shore up the gaps in midfield, and Souness was so shocked by Gerrard's performance he said it was all the evidence Rafa needed as to why he shouldn't play that position.

Galatassaray's second goal illustrates the point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v....search=
From 7min 40sec:
The second one was a pass from Alonso threaded into Gerrard who let it go for a run Garcia was making inside against Galatasaray's defence. The ball was intercepted, Gerrard acknowleged misjudging the ball getting through to Garcia.

Once in possession, a foul from Aurelio on the half-way line to stop the counter was too late to stop the player laying the ball off. Galatasaray kept the ball, and now had the advantage as Aurelio and others were all far behind play. Agger has to move across to close down the space. Alonso tries to support him, and close down two in succession but can't get close as the ball is quickly switched infield then back left again.

Agger can't prevent the cross from the left. That's converted by a right midfielder who Finnan has tracked into the middle of the six yard box while another opponent breaking from centre midfield (who put the ball out to the left), has drifted towards the far post, he's caught between them 2 v 1.

The goal is converted by the cross over Carragher's head, met by the man Finnan was tracking, he's got between them. Alonso looks back upfield to see where the players who lost the ball have got to. Gerrard is about ten yards behind play, and Garcia in unknown location.

I care about Gerrard's performance on the pitch, I dislike the SFX inspired bullsh!t in the football media that surrounds him. He seems to have come to believe all that hype and I suspect it may be effecting his performance on the pitch, and his willingness to play for the team wherever Rafa picks him. He's far more interested in the spectacular shots and passes which aren't coming off and squandering possession and good attacking positions...Captain Hollywood blah blah... 

Gerrard has been poor this season, even when playing in his preferred position he's been far worse than Alonso, and to borrow a phrase from the Gerrard camp, that performance has been deteriorating with every game.

[Bad Bob]

I posted that this afternoon in the Gerrard thread.

I hope shes ok though, and Stevie has enough problems without this.

Yeah same here, I hope he can clear his head for the Villa match. Must of been hard to deal with the idea that your child might have meningitis.

Here's Something from RAWK about Gerrard trying force the issue on Rafa about playing in his prefered position...

Gerrard, and his friends or advisors, believe that the general public are influenced by the media. They're quite right, any analysis on Sky Sports or the major football correspondents is generally repeated here shortly afterwards, almost word for word as if it were original thought. They want to bring public pressure to bear, to build a bandwagon to force the issue on Rafa.

The 'murmurings from the Gerrard camp' are scapegoating Alonso, who has actually outperformed Gerrard overall this season, and in the games where they've both been in centre-midfield - Gerrard squanders possession, shots and doesn't do half the tackling a centre-midfielder should - even an attacking one.

The beauty of unattributed briefings to the press, which lead to stories such as the ones above, is that you can always pretend that there's 'no evidence that Gerrard or any of his 'camp' are scapegoating a team-mate, Alonso (not that the Gerrard camp or their scribes provide evidence for "Alonso’s performance deteriorating with every game").

This story, like the ones SFX planted with The Times and The Telegraph in the build up to the contrived breakdown in his contract negotiations, is evidence.

Gerrard also put his own head above the parapet to make his point when he was promoting his autobiography, followed by his ghost writer who echoed him.

It was a very matey pre-recorded interview with John Barnes, to hook up with Gerrard's book promotion...

...They discussed his preferred position, and the variation in positions he's played in the last couple of seasons. Gerrard said he was always happy to be picked, wherever he played, but he believes his best position is central midfield, and he's confident Rafa would eventually see it his way too.

Then back to the studio, and Henry Winter yarns on about how 'talismanic' he is; the near Beatlemania surrounding his book signing; and how effective Gerrard is in central midfield (giving the Istanbul final as an example!!!), and how he's not so happy always being out on the right.

[Since then he's been picked on the left]

I wonder why that was...perhaps Rafa was making a point of his own?

Anyway there's far more evidence for the murmurings from the Gerrard camp and them trying to undermine Alonso's position, than there is for your opinion that Gerrard had a better game than Alonso against Galatassaray.

In that game he only made 5 tackles throughout (winning 2), Alonso made 11 (won 5); Gerrard lost the ball 7 times and only won it once (very poor for a central midfielder looking to secure that spot for himself), Alonso lost it 9 times but won it 7 times. Gerrard got forward and had his shots, he was much more interested in 'bombing on' (or emptying the midfield space as Souness put it) than tracking back when Galatassaray were flooding forward. Momo had to be brought in to shore up the gaps in midfield, and Souness was so shocked by Gerrard's performance he said it was all the evidence Rafa needed as to why he shouldn't play that position.

Galatassaray's second goal illustrates the point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v....search=
From 7min 40sec:
The second one was a pass from Alonso threaded into Gerrard who let it go for a run Garcia was making inside against Galatasaray's defence. The ball was intercepted, Gerrard acknowleged misjudging the ball getting through to Garcia.

Once in possession, a foul from Aurelio on the half-way line to stop the counter was too late to stop the player laying the ball off. Galatasaray kept the ball, and now had the advantage as Aurelio and others were all far behind play. Agger has to move across to close down the space. Alonso tries to support him, and close down two in succession but can't get close as the ball is quickly switched infield then back left again.

Agger can't prevent the cross from the left. That's converted by a right midfielder who Finnan has tracked into the middle of the six yard box while another opponent breaking from centre midfield (who put the ball out to the left), has drifted towards the far post, he's caught between them 2 v 1.

The goal is converted by the cross over Carragher's head, met by the man Finnan was tracking, he's got between them. Alonso looks back upfield to see where the players who lost the ball have got to. Gerrard is about ten yards behind play, and Garcia in unknown location.

I care about Gerrard's performance on the pitch, I dislike the SFX inspired bullsh!t in the football media that surrounds him. He seems to have come to believe all that hype and I suspect it may be effecting his performance on the pitch, and his willingness to play for the team wherever Rafa picks him. He's far more interested in the spectacular shots and passes which aren't coming off and squandering possession and good attacking positions...Captain Hollywood blah blah... 

Gerrard has been poor this season, even when playing in his preferred position he's been far worse than Alonso, and to borrow a phrase from the Gerrard camp, that performance has been deteriorating with every game.

Okay, all of that was a little hard to follow but the gist seems to be that there is a debate raging--fueled by Gerrard himself according to some debates--about who's been poorer this season, Gerrard or Alonso.  As many will know, I've been defending Alonso a lot on this board of late (although not as boisterously as Lando ) so you'll guess my position on the debate.  Both are great players and I want them both on the park playing to the level they are capable of.  But, for me, Alonso has been the steadier performer this season and that Gerrard has been well below his own lofty standards, no matter where he's played--including in his preferred CM position.  People calling for Alonso to be dropped in favour of Gerrard at CM just won't see that the opposite shout has more validity based on current form: drop Gerrard in favour of Alonso!

[account deleted by request]

badbob

Okay, all of that was a little hard to follow but the gist seems to be that there is a debate raging--fueled by Gerrard himself according to some debates--about who's been poorer this season, Gerrard or Alonso.  As many will know, I've been defending Alonso a lot on this board of late (although not as boisterously as Lando ) so you'll guess my position on the debate.  Both are great players and I want them both on the park playing to the level they are capable of.  But, for me, Alonso has been the steadier performer this season and that Gerrard has been well below his own lofty standards, no matter where he's played--including in his preferred CM position.  People calling for Alonso to be dropped in favour of Gerrard at CM just won't see that the opposite shout has more validity based on current form: drop Gerrard in favour of Alonso!

me

However they are not playing well and maybe a spell on the bench and a change would be of some benefit. I personally think that one of the reasons for Gerrards poor form (discounting rumours) is that Alonso is not finding Gerrard with the ball in the same way that he did last season. These things tend to have a knock on effect and unfortunately Alonso's form has affected Gerrards.

As you can see Badbob, I went for the alternate option ,that it was Alonso's poor form that was affecting Gerrards form. My reasons for this are :-

1/ Gerrard started the season much brighter than Alonso

2/When Gerrard has not played Alonso has still struggled for form.

3/ Gerrard has had one outstanding game this season.... For England!

4/ Alonso has played in his favoured position every match, Gerrard has been shuffled from pillar to post.

5/ Alonso's poor form has restricted the number of times Gerrards runs have been rewarded with a good pass. Gerrard cant be blamed in a similar manner for Alonso's problems.

They are both below form who's WORST is not really a good argument to be having 

[66-1112520797]

badbob

Okay, all of that was a little hard to follow but the gist seems to be that there is a debate raging--fueled by Gerrard himself according to some debates--about who's been poorer this season, Gerrard or Alonso.  As many will know, I've been defending Alonso a lot on this board of late (although not as boisterously as Lando ) so you'll guess my position on the debate.  Both are great players and I want them both on the park playing to the level they are capable of.  But, for me, Alonso has been the steadier performer this season and that Gerrard has been well below his own lofty standards, no matter where he's played--including in his preferred CM position.  People calling for Alonso to be dropped in favour of Gerrard at CM just won't see that the opposite shout has more validity based on current form: drop Gerrard in favour of Alonso!

me

However they are not playing well and maybe a spell on the bench and a change would be of some benefit. I personally think that one of the reasons for Gerrards poor form (discounting rumours) is that Alonso is not finding Gerrard with the ball in the same way that he did last season. These things tend to have a knock on effect and unfortunately Alonso's form has affected Gerrards.

As you can see Badbob, I went for the alternate option ,that it was Alonso's poor form that was affecting Gerrards form. My reasons for this are :-

1/ Gerrard started the season much brighter than Alonso

2/When Gerrard has not played Alonso has still struggled for form.

3/ Gerrard has had one outstanding game this season.... For England!

4/ Alonso has played in his favoured position every match, Gerrard has been shuffled from pillar to post.

5/ Alonso's poor form has restricted the number of times Gerrards runs have been rewarded with a good pass. Gerrard cant be blamed in a similar manner for Alonso's problems.

They are both below form who's WORST is not really a good argument to be having 

TBH I dont think Gerrards poor form is down to Alonso, nor do I think Alonso's form is effected by Gerrard.

I am a firm believer now that Gerrard should be put back in his CM role for at least five games or so WITH Alonso. It wont do any more harm in playing him there, he can only get better and I believe he will when he's seeing more of the ball, but he also needs to pull his finger out.

At the moment Gerrard is being used in exactly the same way Sven used him for England, every Liverpool fan could see that, down to Gerrards ability he was deemed good enough to play accross the midfield under Sven.
The same is more or less happening now at Liverpool, except the fans arent so quick to acknoweldge this. 

[bigmick]

I've made no secret of the fact that in my opinion Gerrards best position is on the right hand side of midfield. That isn't because it gives the team better balance or any of that old mallarkey, I just think it's easier from there to get him on the ball in the final third.

That said, if there was to be a re-think by Rafa (which I don't think there will be, at least not on this one) then why is everybody talking of Gerrard OR Alonso? I agree with Bamaga in the sense that if you are going to play him in the centre you would definately play him with Alonso. Alonso is a natural holding midfielder and Gerrard is a natural impact midfielder so there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that they couldn't play together.

I touched upon, in another post my feeling that it is with Sissoko that we are seeing the biggest change from last season. As he is no longer hunting the ball in advanced areas to anything like the same extent that he was in the second half of last season, and given that his passing is average at best and the fact that he provides no goal threat whatsoever you wonder what really is the point of picking him at all. i say this and qualify it by saying that I think Sissoko is a fantastic player, but only if he is playing what I believe to be his natural game which is that of ball hunter extraordinaire. He has either been told not to chase the ball as much in advanced areas so as to give the team solidity, or he has taken that decision upon himself. Either which way, it is wrong in my view and it is pointless including him in this role. In that instance, i would move Gerrard back into the centre to play with Alonso.

[taff]

Rotation and Gerrard Alonso etc, lets look at some other factors before my head explodes

Reina hasnt had the best start and for me, last year he was excellent in bossing the defence and has a strong character, this has rubbed off and unsettled the defence.

There is hardly any cohesion on the flanks starting with the right back and keft back. the link play is not good enough, maybe an offshoot from the nervouseness at the back.  This then hampers the midfield. 

Sissoko I dont see as a major problem nor Alonso or SG although they havent been playing well its one of them things and we have to accept it and hope it clicks soon. 

I hate excuses but the world cup and last season is catching up with us and as annoying as the start is and we have had a hard start, we look like qualifying in the CL and I would much rather see us click and look fresh in the business end of the season even if the league is lost now( I dont think it is)

Kuyt, Bellamy and Crouch work hard and are team players but need that ball in the net.  Give Robbie a chance, maybe tonigyt after his injury.  I would tell them to be selfish and go for it. 

We should join Wenger and his rally call for a winter break    But I dont think its rotational the new zonal defending    Its a combination of things that we have to tough out. 

We have probably seen the end of Hypia who is massive on and off the pitch.

SG needs to be a captain in every sense of the word, although he is still young we havent go many seasoned pros in the squad and this si growing up time, but Im not SG bashing as I rate him in this area I just wish he would try and learn (which he invariably does) without the moaning and sulking that comes before it.

The Sissoko debate by you BigMick well look at the back first and how they interact with the team before he gets criticised.  Now its not Reinas fault for the team that would be crazy but we have had too many distractions and small obstacles so far to get cohesion.

[bigmick]

I'm not actually criticizing Sissoko Taff. I think he's a brilliant player but I've got a feeling he's been TOLD to curtail his roaming instincts. My point simply is that if you stop him playing his natural game, you might as well not pick him. He definately isn't a holding midfileder as his danger awareness isn't good enough and nor is his passing when it comes down to it. The fact that he provides zero goal-threat is offset by his ability to win the ball in extremely uncomfortable areas for the opposition when he goes walkabout but not when he sits.

When he sits in we are left with two central midfielders who not only wouldn't score five goals a season between them, but who don't press the ball high enough up to cause a problem either. If you look at Sunday and consider that as we played 4-5-1 with Garcia as an additional central midfileder, we would be expected to outnumber Carrick and Scholes by 2.5 to 2 if you take the view that Garcia will spend half of his time as an auxillary forward.

That didn't happen for two reasons. Firstly Garcia chose not to really engage in ball retention/closing down, and the fact that Sissoko played deep meant that Carrick and Scholes were able to come in short and pick it up off the back players with impunity. United were very keen not to allow us the same luxury, Scholes played up on Alonso and had the added assistance of Giggs and particularly Fletcher snapping in off the wings.

The irony of course is that though Sissoko was playing almost as an extra central defender at the time, he ran in the opposite direction to the one which he needed to to stop Scholes opening the scoring. He is a brilliant player, but he isn't a holding midfielder. If we aren't going to let him play his natural game then we shouldn't pick him.

[davo_LFC]

I thought reina looked alot better against the mancs and that sadly was the only positive i could see from that tw@t of a performance on sunday, he claimed quite a few crosses and made a world class save from saha, hopefully hes turned the corner now.

[bigmick]

In truth he was a bit unlucky and did nothing wrong with the first goal aswell. The save off Saha was definately right out of the very top drawer.

[taff]

we need Reina on top form of course.

Regarding Sissoko, I think the malaise in the team puts all players on the backfoot and it is this which is the problem IMO.  I think its a little bit of this and a little bit of that with a lot of issues concerning the form and we need two, three wins to get that swagger.  I think there is too much emphasis on the rotation being the problem as when a team with expectations fails to produce people look for the reason and people are latching on to rotation.

[Bad Bob]

1/ Gerrard started the season much brighter than Alonso

2/When Gerrard has not played Alonso has still struggled for form.

3/ Gerrard has had one outstanding game this season.... For England!

4/ Alonso has played in his favoured position every match, Gerrard has been shuffled from pillar to post.

5/ Alonso's poor form has restricted the number of times Gerrards runs have been rewarded with a good pass. Gerrard cant be blamed in a similar manner for Alonso's problems.

They are both below form who's WORST is not really a good argument to be having 

I'll grant you the last point, mate--that arguing who's playing worse is not necessarily the way to go.  However, I dispute some of the earlier claims and so I suppose I'll continue the argument for at least one more post with this caveat: I only bring it up because so many are calling for Gerrard to move central at Alonso's expense.  That's folly in my mind for several reasons.  The best one has already been discussed by Big Mick--Sissoko and Gerrard are not going to work well together as a CM pairing because of Sissoko's limitations.  The other reason is back to this argument about Gerrard vs Alonso's form so far this season (and here I'll address each of your points)...

1/ Gerrard may have had the brighter start but his form has stagnated for the last few weeks while Alonso's form has been steady if not spectacular

2/ Alonso's only played in two games this season when Gerrard's not featured: Haifa away and Bordeaux.  I can't speak to the Haifa game but his struggles against Bordeaux may have had a lot to do with covering for Zenden as well.

3/ Not sure I understand the relevance of this point, TBH.

4/ True, but Alonso has had to contend with two big differences from last season in playing his preferred position: Sissoko's shifting role (as Mick has highlighted so well) and a more attacking focus to the team early in the season, which left the central midfield rather more exposed than was the case last year.  Sabre highlighted this in relation to the Sheffield United game and it was abundantly clear in the Galatasaray game: Alonso's been left far more exposed this season as others get forward which has impacted his game. 

Gerrard, for all of his shifting across the midfield, has still been given the same brief: attack!  The fact that he's had a neglible impact on games, even from his preferred CM position, suggests that he's the real off-form player.

5/ I'm not convinced that Stevie's seen any less of the ball this season and, even so, this not entirely down to Alonso.  Yes, Xabi provides a number of key passes but even when he's in very top form opposing CMs know to close him down quickly.  As such, he often has to settle for the simple ball to the likes of Finnan, Riise, Sami, Sissoko, etc.  Watching Gerrard on the right last season, a lot of his service came from the fullbacks (Finnan's simple balls down the touchline or Riise's raking angled balls), from Sissoko after winning the ball in midfield or from Crouch via the long ball knock-downs and flick-ons.  In short, Alonso has never been exclusively responsible for supplying Stevie with the ball and so his poor form cannot be exclusively responsible for Stevie's poor form.

Conversely, Gerrard has contributed to Alonso's poor form when they've played together in the centre because--as you have noted yourself, mate--Stevie's not been as all-action as in the past.  The Galatasaray game was a great example, with Gerrard often stranded upfield when the Turks countered, leaving Alonso alone to plug the massive gaps in CM.  In fact, Rafa was forced to bring Sissoko on late to shore up the central midfield which should not be necessary if Stevie is fulfilling all of his obligations as a central midfielder.

Now, having said all that, as we've agreed neither have been in top form and it's pretty fruitless to nitpick over who's playing worse.  My real criticism is directed at those who fail to appreciate the challenging and often very subtle role that Alonso plays in our side and who think that the solution to all of our problems is to move Stevie back to the middle and drop Alonso.  Alonso is not simply some Spanish 'flair player' who's expendable if his long-range passing is not coming off.  No, he's our only real holding midfielder who does all of the in-the-trenches stuff that the team needs to tick.  We drop him at our extreme peril.

[account deleted by request]

I agree completely with your last paragraph Badbob especially as the alternative is Zenden rather than Hamann.

I wont argue my other points again(seems a bit pointless )

As for point 3 which I failed to explain properly. The point I was trying to make is.... for England he received good service and played well and was M.O.M., for Liverpool due to Alonso's poor form he hasnt. Although as you rightly say Gerrard receives the ball from other sources than Alonso, I would argue that its the great passes from Alonso that have tended to free Gerrard in the past,rather than the passes from Finnan, when they usually try to work the ball more.

Gerrard has only played in the centre on a couple of occasions at most, so its hardly fair to blame him for Alonso's poor form!

Bigmicks posts, I agree with completely. I was just trying to defend Gerrard to some extent, rather than pushing for positional changes or the dropping of Alonso.

[account deleted by request]

GERRARD: THE LEAGUE'S NOT OVER FOR US
Paul Eaton 25 October 2006 
  Steven Gerrard has warned Liverpool's critics that the Reds are far from out of this season's title race. 
The Liverpool skipper, who will be rested for tonight's Carling Cup clash with Reading, admits the players were left devastated after Sunday's defeat at Old Trafford, but he believes it's far too soon to be writing the club off as a spent force in this season's Premiership battle.
 
He said: "We haven't made the start to the season that we hoped we'd make, but we're more than capable of going on a run of 10 games or more without defeat and that would put us right in the mix along with the title contenders.
 
"Both United and Chelsea have difficult games coming up but we have to sort out our own form and get ourselves in a position to take advantage of any slips that anyone else makes. And they will slip up.
 
"People have said the league's over for us, but we've been to Old Trafford and we've been to Stamford Bridge and we've still got them to come to us. Nothing's over yet.
 
"Sunday's result at Old Trafford wasn't what we wanted, but in October, and with the talent we have in the dressing room, we can't be counted out of anything."

Eternal optimist or have we still got a real chance? My glass is half full as a paidup member of the happy clappy brigade, but even im starting to have doubts about our chances.