Has Rodgers found his best 11?

In what has been a tough season to say the least so far for Brendan Rodgers’ side it looks like he may be finding his best starting eleven in the absence of main man Daniel Sturridge.

So far Rodgers has been switching systems, he has been using the 4-3-3 often while flirting with three at the back every so often but it now looks like he has settled for a 3-4-2-1 formation with three at the back, two wing backs alongside two holding midfield players and two men playing off the one frontman, that being Sterling on the last two outings.

The performance at Bournemouth and todays draw at Arsenal have probably backed up Rodgers’ idea of what is his best system and more importantly who are the best players to carry out this system. The most important ingredient for a winning team is a stable side and Rodgers looks like he is starting to get a good idea of what Liverpool’s best team is.

Summer signings Lazar Markovic and Adam Lallana seem to have worked finally worked their way into the boss’ plans and they are proving to be very good signings, Markovic’s pace and great dribbling talents make him a great threat at left wing back and his hard working nature sees him get back whenever necessary offering the shaky defence some much needed help. Same can be said for Jordan Henderson on the right, it may not be his natural position but his hard working mentality means he can put in a shift anywhere the manager wants to play him.

Lallana has also offered a lot to the team in the recent past, his great skill with the ball at his feet and his ability to pick to beat people with relative ease is exactly what this Liverpool team needs, he has also shown that he and Couthino can play together quashing peoples worries of having the two in the same starting eleven.

The defence continues to look extremely shaky, especially from set pieces, even after the big decision to replace off form keeper Mignolet with Brad Jones. It must be said despite the fact Jones is not as good a shot-stopper as the Belgian, his ability in the air is a lot more assured than Mignolet’s and the current defenders badly need someone they can trust behind them.

Sakho’s return to the side has been greeted with great optimism, him Skrtel and Kolo Toure appear to be the three men Rodgers has entrusted at the back, until January at least, while Liverpool’s most costly defender in the clubs history, Dejan Lovren, looks like he will have to contend with a place on the bench for the foreseeable future. Today’s defensive performance was poor but if Rodgers keeps the faith with these three, they could develop a strong partnership and solve Liverpool’s defensive woes.

Lucas Leiva’s return to the team should not be played down, he has offered some much needed cover for the men at the back, his well timed challenges break up the play well and his role is very important to the team. Alongside him, Gerrard is back to playing the anchor-man role we saw him in last season, he may not have the legs to play in the hole on his own but with Lucas covering the defensive side of things he is free to dictate the game from deep.

Moving up to the final third of the pitch, the aforementioned Adam Lallana has developed a nice partnership with arguably Liverpool’s best player today and scorer of the first goal Phil Couthino. In the side he is given almost a free role and proved today that he can cause the opposition plenty of problems, his finishing however may need a bit of work.

Without Sturridge Liverpool have struggled in the goal scoring department and it looks like for the next few weeks while Sturridge is out, Sterling will take on the burden of the lone striker role, he proved in the Capital One Cup he can play the role well and offers something different to the likes of Balotelli and Lambert with his lightning place.

After todays brilliant first half performance you would expect that Rodgers is going to continue with this team for the Christmas period, they are still far off where they were last season but the domination we saw today against Arsenal suggests this Liverpool side is on the up.

Liverpool's starting eleven vs Arsenal

Latest FIFA rankings out and as questionable as ever

The latest FIFA world rankings have been released and as per usual do not seem to reflect fully the quality of all the teams in world football, World Cup winners Germany are still on top despite their shaky form in the European qualifiers while Argentina and Colombia make up the top three.

Colombia somehow have managed to be placed 3^rd in the world despite only making it to quarter final of the World Cup ahead of both losing semi finalists in the World Cup: the Netherland’s and Brazil. Similarly Belgium look ranked far above their realistic ability, they see themselves in 4^th place, they are a very good side but they haven’t done anything special in the past few months and certainly don’t deserve to be ranked above the Dutch.

England find themselves in 13^th place, a respectable position and probably a fair one, after a disappointing World Cup they have regained their form and currently stand top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group with four wins from four.

The Republic of Ireland will be disappointed with their standing, they find themselves down in 64^th place after what was a solid start to their Euro campaign, the highlight being that draw away in Germany. The Irish somehow find themselves ranked below Albania, Panama and Congo DR. They are also behind all their neighbours with Northern Ireland, Wales and their group D rivals Scotland placed above them.

Scotland are up to 34^th in the world going into the new year after a solid start in Group D of the Euro qualifying campaign seeing them on 7 points after four games, level with the Republic of Ireland and Poland who are ranked below them in 41^st place.

Northern Ireland who have had their best start to a Euro campaign in a long time are now in 49^th, down one place since the last ranking release but still ahead of the Republic. Wales who also have impressed in their qualifiers find themselves a few places ahead of Northern Ireland in 34^th but are still far behind Belgium who despite being 4^th in the world also lie 4^th in Group D two places behind the Welsh.

The best mover in the recent rankings was Rwanda who have moved up twenty two places to 68^th after some impressive results in their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, it is the highest ever ranking in Rwanda’s football history. Cuba were the biggest droppers falling thirty four places to 113^th.

You can see the full rankings here: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html

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Lallana stakes a claim

Raheem Sterling was awarded the man of the match tonight after a terrific performance that deserved recognition but he was not the only star performer in a Liverpool team that overcame Bournemouth 3-1.

Two goals from Sterling and Markovic’s first goal as a Liverpool player were enough to see off the Championship leaders Bournemouth for whom former Everton man Dan Gosling scored their only goal. After no win in three games this win comes at an important time and Liverpool will hope the win can carry on at the weekend when Arsenal come to visit Anfield.

Although he didn’t get on the score-sheet Adam Lallana was particularly impressive for Brendan Rodgers’ side assisting Sterling’s second goal and proving and all round nuisance for the Bournemouth defence, Lallana’s deft touch and quick feet saw him stand out as a star performer in what looked a revitalised Liverpool side.

Of course Bournemouth are no Arsenal but Lallana was key to almost every attack and caused them countless problems, his great vision was evident throughout as he ran things in the Liverpool attack while his composure on the ball helped calm things down as Bournemouth began to press and ask questions of the Liverpool defence. Lallana, who has been in and out of the starting line up this season, will be hoping that this performance will be enough for Rodgers to include him in the team for Sunday’s massive encounter.

Having signed in the summer from Southampton for around £20 million it is maybe about time Rodgers gave the Englishman a consistent role in the team to prove his worth, he has thus far started nine Premier League games scoring 2 goals in the process, a decent return compared to his other midfield compatriots.

It has been a major annoyance with the fans this season when Rodgers has opted not to play the attacking midfielder from the start of games and on some occasions he has decided against bringing Lallana on when the Merseysiders have been chasing a goal but tonight’s performance may have at the very least secured him a place in the team for the weekend.

Lallana and Sterling were not the only strong performers for Liverpool on the night, Markovic probably had his best game so far in a Liverpool shirt threatening down the left wing every time he was given the ball, while as a team their passing was incredibly precise with 39 passes leading up to Sterling’s opening goal, this may have been helped by the nature of the opposition but nonetheless Liverpool performed very well finishing the game with 56% possession.

Sterling up front now looks like a great option for Rodgers after his performance and the trio of Markovic, Couthino and Lallana worked very well and could be the key for Liverpool going forward. Unfortunately for Rodgers they managed to draw Chelsea in the semi-final’s but that will be the least of his concerns at the moment as Liverpool try to re-find their Premier League form starting this Sunday against Arsenal.

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Chance for Man City to prove themselves

For the second year running Manchester City have been drawn against Barcelona in the last 16 stage of the Champions League after getting through the group stage that saw them drawn with Cska and Bayern Munich for the second year running and they are no doubt cursing their luck.

Last season Pellegrini’s side were comfortably beaten at the hands of Barcelona losing 2-0 at the Etihad and then 2-1 at the Nou Camp, making it a 4-1 aggregate defeat and once again end their participation in the Champions League a lot earlier than they would have liked.

This year however, despite all the self pitying that will undoubtedly be happening amongst the City players and fans, this big fixture gives them a big chance to prove themselves in Europe, they made a statement in the group stages when they beat Bayern 3-2 and most recently knocked out Roma after beating them 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico but no result would make a bigger statement than knocking the Spanish giants out.

The challenge is made harder by the fact they must travel to the Nou Camp in the second leg because of their 2^nd place finish in the group stages but it is doable. Who can forget when Chelsea knocked the Catalan giants out in the Semi-final back in 11/12 with Torres’ late goal securing the win that brought them to the final which they famously won under Roberto Di Matteo.

Liverpool and Manchester United have also been able to knock Barcelona sides in the past ten years, so although it’s a massive task English sides have proven that they are capable on their day of knocking Barcelona out.

Winning this tie will depend majorly on whether or not City will have a full strength team, injury-prone Sergio Aguero and current absentee Kompany will need to be fit for the game if City are to have any realistic hope of progressing.

Coming up against the front trio of Suarez, Neymar and of course Lionel Messi will be a huge test for the Manchester side but one they are  sure to relish, these are the ties that make European football worth being involved in and as they say if you want to win you have to beat the best teams.

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How things change in football

On March 16 2014 Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford emphasising their title credentials and ending any hopes David Moyes’ side had of making it into the top4 in a game that proved to be one of the final nails in the David Moyes coffin.

Football however, is a strange game and nine months later the result has flipped on its head, today Liverpool lost 3-0 at Old Trafford, a 6 goal swing from the previous encounter and a sign of how quickly things have changed for both these sides.

In those five months both squads and setups have changed drastically, in last seasons fixture the third goal was scored by none other than Luis Suarez who know as we all know plays for Barcelona, Sturridge who also played in that fixture is injured and Gerrard who scored 2 penalties that day is a shadow of the confident player we saw last year.

Manchester United have had some major changes themselves David Moyes is long gone and Louis Van Gaal is in the managerial position, their 150 million summer spend has seen a big squad change since the last encounter and they are much better for it.

While the win last season showed Liverpool were a great force in England and capable of winning the league, Brendan Rodgers’ side are currently in 9^th and having embarrassed United back in March they were well and truly embarrassed today at the hand of Van Gaal’s side.

Things may have regressed  badly for Liverpool but United are on the up and while the defeat last season was another blow to a campaign that saw them finish 7^th , they are now in 3^rd having won six games in a row and are now only 8 points behind league leaders Chelsea.

Not only have they pretty much swapped places but the SAS partnership which was the best Premier League strike partnership of the 13/14 season is no more and may well have been replaced this season by United’s frontman. They boast the goal-scoring ability of Falcao, Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, an irresistible force when in form as they currently are with both Van Persie and Rooney getting on the score sheet in today’s win.

Moyes was the high profile sacking of last season with Manchester United and only a few months after being accredited with the manager of the year award Brendan Rodgers may be running out of time at the helm of Liverpool football club. Just like Moyes last season he seems out of his depth and unable to find a winning formula, like United; Liverpool do not like to sack managers but may be left with no option should this abysmal form continue.

How things change in football, Liverpool have regressed back to the standard of Rodgers’ first season while United have bounced back from their horror season last campaign to become title challengers. 

Podolski: The dilemma

After scoring a brace for Arsenal in their 4-1 win at Galatasaray, Lukas Podolski has brought himself to the attention of Arsene Wenger and once again tabled the question why has he been not getting much game time this season?

In the Premier League Podolski has featured six times as a sub but as of yet he has not started a game, consequently he has not registered a goal for the Gunners in the league but that could change with Wenger, in the wake of his Champions League double, announcing that he intends to give Podolski more playing time.

Podolski has seen a gradual decrease in playing time since his arrival in the summer of 2012, in his first season he started twenty five league games and came on as a sub in a further eight, he managed a healthy return of 11 league goals and was regarded as a great signing by the fans.

Last season his game time fell considerably starting only fourteen games and coming on as a sub in six, despite the fall in games Podolski kept up a respectable scoring tally, he finished the 13/14 season with 8 goals, 3 less than the season before but having featured in thirteen less games he would have been content with the stats.

The downward trend has continued into this season as formally mentioned but his Champions League exploits could see him cement a place in Wenger’s plans for the coming months. Podolski was even said to be leaving the club in the summer but only for an injury to Olivier Giroud, Wenger couldn’t risk letting him go.

Podolski has been known for underachieving at big clubs in the past, after starting his career at Cologne he was picked up by Bayern Munich in 2006, he never really hit the heights expected of him however scoring 15 goals in seventy one appearances in the three years he spent at the German giants.

In 2009 he made his move back to boyhood club Cologne where he once again thrived under less pressure than at Munich scoring 33 goals in eighty eight appearances gaining the attention of Wenger who brought him to Arsenal. His stats over the years have showed that he struggles under the pressure of playing for the big club teams but internationally for Germany he has been excellent, with one hundred and twenty one caps to his name and 47 goals, his Germany record is very impressive.

Podolski really is a dilemma for managers and all onlookers, it is clear that he has the quality but his inconsistency throughout his career has hampered him a great deal but after Wenger promising him some first team football the twenty nine year old may fancy his chances of once again becoming a first team regular at the Emirates.lsk

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City’s season on the up

After a 2-0 win against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, Manchester City progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League and in doing so proved that they are a team and not just reliant on Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure who were both missing for the encounter in Italy.

The win continues a strong run for City that has seen them win six games in a row in all competitions including the heroic 3-2 win over Bayern Munich and has also seen them close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to a mere 3 points.

The 2-0 win in Rome was a real statement from Manuel Pellegrini’s side, the Stadio Olimpico is an intimidating place to go and City looked comfortable for the full ninety minutes with a superb Nasri goal and a cool finish from Zabaleta securing the win for the English side.

Roma themselves are in 2^nd place in Serie A and have shown that they are no pushovers by any means but Pellegrini’s side showed the quality we expect from reigning Premier League champions and have maybe emerged as potential contenders for the Champions League in the process.

The injury to Sergio Aguero at the weekend that will see him miss up to six weeks of action was greeted with alarm bells as the Premier League top scorer was the catalyst for City’s great run of form as of late, lasts nights win showed that they are not dependent on the little Argentine and are capable of scoring without him.

Ivory Coast man Yaya Toure was another high profile absentee from the side that beat Roma as he was suspended but City will have to get used to playing without him with the African Cup of Nations in January he will be missing for some important games but they showed last night that they are not dependent on the powerful midfielder.

Fans and players alike will be hoping that this recent form can continue, a solid run could see them pass Chelsea and get a foothold in the title race that was only a month ago seen as a one horse race with Chelsea streaks above the rest. Pellegrini’s men on current form are a match for any side and will hope to give the next rounds of the Champions League a real go in the New Year.

Liverpool deservedly knocked out

A 1-1 draw at home to Basel has ended Liverpool’s Champions League campaign for this season putting them into the Europa League and deservedly so based on their performances in Europe including tonight’s draw.

Liverpool finished the group with a measly 5 points, 1 clear of Ludogorets in last and 2 behind Basel who progressed to the knock out stages in place of Liverpool, Real Madrid were a class above and finished the group with a 100% record after a 4-0 win over Ludogorets.

Upon the group stages being drawn Liverpool were seen as dead certs to qualify more than likely in 2^nd behind Madrid, it was seen as the best possible draw with Ludogorets being new to the Champions League and Basel, who in fairness are no walkovers as Manchester United will know but, a team that Liverpool should be beating.

Regardless of the expected easiness of the group, Liverpool’s performances in every Champions League game this season were terrible, the only exception being their defeat in the Bernabeu where their second string side managed to compete with the Spanish giants but never really threatened and inevitably lost 1-0.  

They began the group with a less than impressive 2-1 win at home to Bulgarian side Ludogorets with a last minute Gerrard penalty but that was to be their only win, a loss away to Basel and at home to Madrid had them in a precarious position at the half way stage, the aforementioned defeat in the Bernabeu and only managing a draw away in Bulgaria left them with a must win home game tonight with Basel.

Even after such a dreadful campaign, Liverpool were hot favourites to go through but another below par performance, that the Anfield faithful have become so used to seeing this season, gave them only a draw and the Europa League to look forward to for the new year.

After going a goal down inside the first half-hour Liverpool looked beaten, they were slow and lethargic and offered no threat in the final third, half-time substitute Lazar Markovic saw red midway through the second-half after a dreadful refereeing decision which may be used as an excuse for not winning but in over all play Liverpool did not deserve a win form the game.

A sublime Gerrard free-kick in the final ten minutes sparked hope but the game ended 1-1 and Liverpool deservedly missed out on the knockout stages for the second consecutive time after falling in the group stages last time they appeared in the Champions League in 2010 when Fiorentina and Lyon advanced at their expense.

Gerrard’s piece of magic could well be the last time we seen him in the Champions League, for Liverpool anyway, the now 34-year-old is unlikely to feature next season due to Liverpool’s poor league form and after that it is looking unlikely that he will be still a Liverpool player.

 Brendan Rodgers will be under even more scrutiny following this Champions League exit but should he avoid the sack he will surely have realistic ambitions of winning the Europa League they will now find themselves in.

United keep on winning

A 2-1 win away to Southampton has made it five wins in a row for Louis Van Gaal’s United side, pushing them up to 3^rd place as they begin to look upwards and believe they can be genuine title contenders.

Five wins in a row is no mean feat and to do it with so many players out injured is a great achievement, to say they deserve these five wins would be a lie but as it is so often said; a sign of a good team is winning when playing badly. This certainly applies to Man United in these five games.

The run has seen them beat Arsenal at the Emirates, Crystal Palace, Stoke and Hull at home and tonight Southampton at St Mary’s. The home games are not overly impressive you would expect United to be beating those teams every day but the away wins to Arsenal and Southampton are big results.

Tonight’s game in particular showed that Van Gaal is beginning to get the winning mentality back into the heads of these Manchester United players, after being completed outplayed for the entire game, Robin Van Persie scored 2 goals to secure all three points for the now 3^rd placed team.

From start to finish they were completely overrun in all areas of the pitch, their defence was at times shambolic, Southampton could have had five but instead they only scored once and United showed their killer instinct and punished the Saints.

United are now only 8 points behind leaders Chelsea and their fans are beginning to think they can mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title and they may be right to think that.

Van Persie showed tonight that he is still a match winner and with 6 goals now this season he may begin to show some form consistently, Wayne Rooney as of late has been terrific, the Arsenal game was testament to that as his goal won them the game.

The defence is the main problem at the moment but understandably so with so many men out injured, Shaw, Rafael and Jones are three defenders that are missing for Van Gaal and have been for a considerable amount of time.

Injury problems are not only existing at the back for United with Di Maria, Blind and Lingard all missing from action not to mention big earner Radamel Falcao who despite being in the match day squad “can only play for twenty minutes, because the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is the highest” according to boss Louis Van Gaal.

Being 3^rd in the table with all these problems is very promising for United begging the question what could they achieve if everyone was fit? Van Gaal will hope to find that out at some stage of the season but at the moment they’re coping fine without some key men.

Next up for Manchester United is the visit of fierce rivals Liverpool on Sunday, the game is set up to be a mouth watering affair that United will expect to win based on their recent run and the abject form of Liverpool as of late.

Premier League season continues to surprise

We are now fifteen games into the 2014/15 Premier League season (bar Manchester United and Southampton who play tomorrow) and it is possibly one of the most surprising Premier League seasons we have ever seen.

The top two will surprise no one, Chelsea are on top with Man City only 3 points behind, 3^rd and 4^th however would have been predicted by no one when the season began. In 3^rd place are Sam Allardyce’s West Ham side who have been a revelation this season and in 4^th are Southampton, who having lost so many big players in the summer have surpassed everyone’s expectations thus far.

Its hard to say which team has been the surprise package of the season because there are so many teams performing far above there expectations, Newcastle and Swansea have also made a claim for that title as they sit 7^th and 8^th respectively.

The main challengers for the top four places and possibly the title other than the top two were  supposed to be Manchester United who are 5^th, Arsenal who are 6^th, Liverpool in 9^th, Spurs in 10^th and Everton in 11^th. These teams were expected to make up the top seven alongside City and Chelsea but have yet to fulfil these expectations and have left the door open for teams like West Ham to get into the Champions League places.

Even though these teams find themselves a lot worse off than they would have expected, Everton who sit last of the aforementioned top seven in 11^th place are only 8 points behind Southampton in 4^th, meaning there is still a chance for these off form sides to get back where they want to be.

In a season that is being labelled one of the worst in terms of quality, Chelsea have been the shining light but yesterdays shock defeat to Newcastle has shown that they are not unbeatable and throws claims that they would walk away with the title into the air.

Another feature of this Premier League season is the performance of some of the leagues strikers, Pelle who came from Dutch football settled straight into the Premier League and has a tally of 7 goals, similarly Sakho has come in and also sees himself on 7 goals for the season, we are so used to seeing strikers flopping in the Premier League that this has come as a welcome change.

Charlie Austin scoring 8 goals for QPR is another surprise this season, its rare to see a player come from the Championship and keep up their goal-scoring record but he has managed to do it.

There have been so many surprises and shocks so far this season and as we come into the Christmas period you would expect the table to begin to take shape but whether it will shape the way everyone expects is yet to be seen. 

Pardew is the man

After Chelsea losing their first game of the season most talk will be about them, however one thing that might be slightly ignored by the Chelsea defeat is the praise of Newcastle and in particular manager Alan Pardew who deserve oh so much praise for the win and their recent form.

Alan Pardew has come under some great scrutiny in his time as manager of Newcastle but after a great win and a great run of form, he deserves some praise. Newcastle have picked up a tally of 19 points in their last eight games, losing one and drawing one along the way.

The great recent run sees them 3^rd in the Barclays Premier League form table level with Chelsea and Manchester United and only behind a bang in form Manchester City side.

Their home form is particularly impressive, St James’ Park is such a big stadium with such passionate fans that it can sometimes be harder for the home side when things aren’t going well, but with four wins and two draws in the last six games, Pardew must be thrilled with his sides form.

The run of form they’re on was much needed for Pardew as after a poor start to the season, fans were calling for Pardew’s head and owner Mike Ashley even “joked” in early September that if they lost to Stoke, which they did, he would be sacked, luckily for him he was not and the team have reaped the rewards since.

The Chelsea win now adds to two big wins already this season with Liverpool and Spurs already tasting defeat at the hands of Pardew’s side. The run has seen them propel from potential relegation candidates to European challengers, they currently sit 7^th in the league with 23 points, 3 behind 4^th placed Manchester United and 10 clear of the relegation zone and 18^th placed Hull City.

The unpredictable nature of Pardew’s Newcastle sides in recent seasons means it’s almost impossible to predict where they will end up when the season ends, under his guidance they have finished 12^th, 5^th, 16^th and last season 10^th.

Credit also must go to Pardew for his good work in the transfer market, last season saw the departure of key man Yohan Cabaye which basically ended their season in January but in the summer he acquired good players such as Ayoze Perez, Jack Colback and Daryl Janmaat who all look like shrewd signings.

Newcastle’s next outing is a trip to the Emirates to take on Arsenal, a fixture that marks the start of a busy period in which they play host to both Everton and North East rivals Sunderland, and includes a trip to Old Trafford. Even with such a tough line-up of fixtures Pardew and his men will be hoping they can motor on and stay in the top-half of the table and fight for European places.

Retiring Cats could boost rivals

JJ Delaney is the latest in a growing list of Kilkenny men to call time on his inter-county career, the man from Fenians who boasts nine All-Ireland medals has been one of the greatest backs of recent times and his retirement will be a source of sorrow for the Kilkenny supporters.

This now brings the number of retirees from Kilkenny this summer to five, Tommy Walsh, Brian Hogan, Aidan Fogarty and David Herity had also hung up their boots after another All Ireland winning summer under Brian Cody.

Theses resignations are almost like an end of an era for this Kilkenny side, Brian Hogan, JJ Delaney and Tommy Walsh particularly have been integral parts of these teams for such a long time and moving forward without them will be no easy task for Cody.

JJ Delaney and Brian Hogan were still main players in the Kilkenny team this summer that won the All-Ireland, as full-back and centre-back they provided the spine of the team and trying to replace them will be difficult. Undoubtedly there are plenty of players capable of stepping in but whether or not they can be as effective as those two is hard to know.

Tommy Walsh was one of the best players to ever put on the black and amber striped jersey but had, in the past two campaigns, fallen from the starting 15 so him retiring will not have as big a bearing as it could have, similarly Fogarty and Herity were on the fringes of the side and there absence will not be too important.

The next player to retire from the Kilkenny side, you would expect, will be Henry Shefflin, after his wonderful record breaking career he will more than likely be calling it a day in the near future.

As previously mentioned, this overturn of players is like the end of an era and for Kilkenny’s rivals such as Tipperary, Cork and Clare a much welcomed end of an era. With such big names retiring all the challengers will feel that Kilkenny will be a waning force next summer and the All-Ireland will be there for the taking.

Whether this is the case or not is hard to know, even with all the retirees Kilkenny have a very strong panel with Richie Hogan at the peak of his career and the likes of Cillian Buckley really coming into his own in a Kilkenny jersey.

Next summer could be a huge test for Brian Cody and his side but being such an experienced man you can expect it won’t faze him in the slightest.

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Five best goals of Steven Gerrard

15 years ago today Steven Gerrard scored his first ever Liverpool goal, the goal came in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield, Gerrard picked up the ball in midfield powered through the opposition and blasted home from the edge of the box. Since then he has scored a total of 177 goals in all competitions for the Merseysiders, here we take a look at the five most memorable finishes based on quality and importance.

5. v Middlesbrough August 23, 2008

The game was locked at 1-1 in the 90^th minute and it looked as if Liverpool would have to settle for a draw, Gerrard thought otherwise, a long ball into the box was knocked down to the edge of the box where Gerrard sprinted on to it and without taking a touch, rifled the ball into the right hand corner of the net leaving the keeper helpless and securing all three points for Liverpool.

4. v AC Milan May 25, 2005

Who can forget that famous comeback in Istanbul and it all stemmed from Gerrard’s unstoppable header into the right corner of the net from John Arne Riise’s cross, in terms of finishing he’s had much better goals but its importance was massive.

3. v Aston Villa August 11, 2007

It wouldn’t be a collection of Gerrard goals without a free kick in it and few are as brilliant and as important as his strike against Aston Villa, after Gareth Barry just equalised at Villa Park, Gerrard was left with a free kick in the dying embers of the game to take all three points and he did not disappoint.

2. v West Ham My 13, 2006

In the FA cup final of 2006, Liverpool were3-2 down in the 90^th minute, until Gerrard struck the ball from thirty yards into the left hand corner of the goal to send the game to extra-time, Liverpool went on to win 3-1 on penalties.

1. v Olympiakos December 8, 2004

When you think of Gerrard goals, this is usually the one that springs to mind. Liverpool needed another goal against Olympiakos to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League and as always captain fantastic stepped up with a sensational half-volley from well outside the box that went straight into the bottom corner, if the goal was not good enough on its own, the now legendary commentary from Andy Gray topped it off.

Leicester in trouble

Having started the season promisingly, Nigel Pearson and his Leicester side find themselves bottom of the Barclays Premier League as we approach the Christmas period.

Leicester have lost eight games this season, the most recent being a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool and are beginning to look destined for the drop with no signs that this recent run of form, that has seen them pick up only 2 points in the last eight games, is going to end anytime soon.

The Foxes have recorded only two wins this season, a 1-0 away win against Stoke and their thrilling 5-3 win at the King Power Stadium against Manchester United which was all the way back in late September, since then they have drawn twice and lost all the other games.

Goals have been the big problem since putting five past Van Gaal’s United side, Ulloa has not been as clinical since then and Nugent and the fellow attackers have been struggling to find the net.

Before Saturdays game with QPR, Leicester had failed to score in five games, in those five they conceded a total of 6 goals, not a terrible defensive record for a team near the bottom of the table. It is clear that if they begin to score more goals they will have a realistic chance of picking up draws and wins in the future.

Unfortunately for Pearson and his side who are undoubtedly low on confidence, the fixtures are coming quick and fast over the festive period and a team so low on confidence could struggle majorly in this period. To make matters worse in the next month Leicester come up against Spurs, Manchester City and they visit Anfield.

Based on these fixtures by January Leicester could be far off the pace and being bottom at Christmas is always a bad omen so Pearson will have to do something quickly to stop the rot and get the team going again.

They will need to invest in some players in January but as we have seen from their sensational win over Manchester United in September that the current crop of players are well capable of picking up points against any side.

The King Power Stadium and the atmosphere in there could also be vital for their survival hopes, once again referring back to the Manchester United game, the crowd were amazing and can really lift the team when they need it.

This weekend they pay a visit to Villa Park in a game they will be hoping they can get at least a draw and maybe, even at this stage, they need something from the game as to not fall away at the bottom of the league. Nigel Pearson himself may also be worried because if things don’t turn around soon he could find himself unemployed.

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Klopp feeling the heat

The shortlist for FIFA world coach of the year was announced yesterday, Jürgen Klopp who came in second place in 2013 did not make the shortlist and is currently facing his biggest ever challenge as a manger with Borussia Dortmund sitting rock bottom in the Bundesliga.

A 2-0 defeat to Frankfurt yesterday was their eight loss of the season and saw them fall back into the relegation zone with only 11 points. Having won back to back Bundesliga titles in 10/11 and 11/12 and bringing them to the Champions League final in 12/13 only to lose out to main rivals Bayern Munich, Dortmund will be hesitant to sack Klopp but may be left with no option should this retched form continue.

The reason for the Dortmund demise is relatively unknown, sure they’ve lost Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski in the past two years but they have spent well in the transfer market with acquisitions such as once Liverpool target Henrik Mkhitaryan, Manchester United man Shinji Kagawa who had been so effective at Dortmund before moving to United and Ciro Immobile who was a goal scoring machine last season in Serie A for Torino.

The fact they have gone from Champions League runners-up to relegation battlers in the space of two years is baffling, injuries have not helped Klopp this season with star man Marco Reus ruled out with an ankle injury until the new year and key players Mats Hummels, Sokratis and Blaszczykowski all experiencing injuries.

Even with these injuries you would expect they still have the quality to be a lot higher up the table than the 18^th place they currently find themselves in, despite the capture of clinical Italian striker Ciro Immobile during the summer he has been unable to fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski scoring only 2 league goals.

In total Dortmund have scored only 14 league goals this season, a very unimpressive stat for such an attacking side, they have also conceded a total of 21 goals, up their with the worst defences in the Bundesliga.

With 13 league games gone one would think this is the first ever time that a team in last place at this stage of the season will still have ambitions of getting into Europe and they will be hoping into the Champions League. They lie only 10 points behind FC Augsburg in 4^th place, not a whole lot if things begin to click for Klopp and his side.

The Bundesliga title which they aim to compete for every season is almost certainly out of their grasp, Dortmund are 22 points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and you cannot see any chance of Pep Guardiola’s side leaving that gap be bridged.

Its not all bad news for the Black and Yellows who have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League and are in pole position to win Group D ahead of Arsenal, this is sure to bring some respite to manager Jürgen Klopp but should the league form not improve the highly rated manager could find himself without a job.

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Spurs beginning to get it right

After what was a shaky start to the season for Pochettino and his Spurs team, yesterdays 2-1 win over Everton was the most telling indication yet that they are beginning to gel together and familiarise themselves with the managers new style of play.

Their win makes it two league wins on the bounce after their win at Hull City the week before and pushes them up to 7^th place only two points behind 4^th placed Manchester United, not bad for a team with apparently no hope of getting into the top4.

Yesterdays Everton win was the most impressive they’ve been this season, their pressing and nice link up plays were reminiscent of Pochettino’s Southampton side last year and is an indication that the players are starting to get used to his fluid game plan.

Even when behind, Spurs showed no sign of panic and were quick to equalise through Christian Eriksen, who has been the shining light in recent times for an underperforming Spurs side, then on the stroke of half-time, Roberto Soldado got on the score sheet with a tidy finish, an unlikely scorer based on his career thus far as a Tottenham Hotspur player.

It was the Spaniards first goal since March which is not a good stat for a striker who cost £26 million, although he and the fans will be hoping that this can be the start of a good run that sees him improve those stats considerably.

The emergence of Harry Kane has also been a huge plus for this Tottenham side, he has shown in Europe and in the league, scoring a late winner against Aston Villa, that he is ready to become a regular member of the starting eleven.

With the squad at Pochettino’s disposal costing well over £100 million thanks to an Andre Villas Boas summer spending spree over a year ago, it will certainly not be a lack of quality if Spurs fail to shine again this season and one would expect if they can get the system going they could be a serious threat to the top4 at least.

Having already lost five games this campaign, including a 3-0 home bashing at the hands of a struggling Liverpool side, a 4-1 defeat at the reigning champions Manchester City and another home loss to Newcastle, Spurs can ill-afford to lose many more games especially at White Hart Lane.

Most of the players in the Spurs side have had over a year to settle into life in England and are going to have to step up to the plate and give big performances, Nacer Chadli has done that so far with 6 goals this season after a poor first campaign in the Premier League, if other strugglers from last season such as Soldado and Paulinho start performing they could be the surprise package this season.

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