How to make a Kop crumble…just add Lucas.

The Premier league season is only eight games old and while Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Carlo Ancelloti are still enjoying their starters at the top table it appears that Rafael Benitez has already skipped ahead to his favourite dessert, the Kop crumble.

Rafa has served this dish quite regularly since his arrival at Anfield and many reds supporters have grown tired of swallowing the same old pudding. The Reds have now lost three of their first eight games and any chance of winning the title.

Violence breaks out at West Ham

Warring football hooligans have fought running battles outside a stadium and a man has been stabbed in the chest during what police described as “large-scale” violence.

The bitter rivalry between West Ham and Millwall supporters descended into violence before the game at Upton Park, in east London.

The 44-year-old man was stabbed in Priory Road, just yards from West Ham’s ground. Onlookers described how bricks and bottles were lobbed as hundreds of supporters rioted.And inside the ground, fans fought with police and stewards, forcing play to be suspended as scores of supporters invaded the pitch.

Tottenham finally using their Spurs

After the dismal start to the season that Tottenham endured under Juande Ramos last year, it was vital that they started this one with bang and haven’t they done just that. With their opening day 2-1 defeat of Liverpool at White Hart Lane and their subsequent 5-1 thrashing of Hull City at the K.C Spurs have the look of side with major aspirations for the season ahead.

The margin of victory over Liverpool wouldn’t suggest that Spurs were dominant in the game but that is exactly what they were. As for the defeat of Hull you would have to go back a few years to remember such an emphatic performance from a Spurs team.

Rovers give Madrid Real test

Cristiano Ronaldo made his much awaited Real Madrid debut tonight in a well contested game with Shamrock Rovers in their newly opened Tallaght Stadium. Almost 10,000 fans watched Ronaldo play his first game in the famous white strip of Madrid but his performance on the night did not live up to the pre match hype.

Ronaldo only played the first 45 minutes but the Portugeuse superstar didn’t produce the fireworks that the fans came to see as he found himself stifled by a resolute Rovers defence whenever he recieved the ball.

Utd Owen Michael now

Michael Owen is set to become a Manchester Utd player today in the biggest shock of the transfer window so far. The move comes after Owens Newcastle contract expired this week. Owen has been actively looking for a new club since the last day of the season when the geordies were relegated to the championship.

Sir Alex Ferguson made his move for the England hitman yesterday and it looks like he may have gotten him after Owen passed a stringent medical at Utd’s Carrington training ground today. Ferguson has pinched Owen from under the noses of Stoke, Aston Villa and Hull City who had all shown an interest in injury plagued striker.

Ireland and Liverpool: The end of the affair?

The Irish have enjoyed a great relationship with the people of Liverpool over the years and they have had a big impact on life in Liverpool as a whole and vice versa. In post war times Irish immigrants helped to rebuild Liverpool after it was almost completely destroyed by German bombers during World War two.

On the other hand Liverpool gave Ireland one of its most famous historical figures in trade union revolutionary James Larkin who was born in Liverpool of Irish parents.

With that said it’s surprising that the Irish have not had a bigger influence on sport in Liverpool. In Liverpool F.C’s one hundred and seventeen year history it has only had twenty four players of Irish descent on their books. Only seventeen of those have played first team football for the club, two of whom are women who are currently playing with Liverpool Ladies F.C.

Ronaldo turns his back on Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo is finally on his way to Real Madrid. The spanish giants have had a world record £80m bid accepted by Manchester United for the Portugese superstar.

Ronaldo’s move to Madrid is no surprise to football fans as he has been constantly flirting the Spanish giants over the past two seasons. Although Ronaldo has vowed to stay at Utd on several occasions most people with half a brain could see this coming in light of Ronaldo’s demeanour last season and his petulant behaviour on and off the pitch.

Kaka crazy to join Madrid

Brazilian superstar Kaka has officailly joined Real Madrid in the first major signing of the summer. The deal see’s Kaka leave AC Milan in a £56m move that has smashed the current transfer record. Kaka’s arrival will certainly bring great joy to Real’s supporters as they crave major signings each and every summer and Kaka is exactly that.

Bedlam at the Bridge

If there is one thing that the Champions League provides in abundance it’s drama, and last night at Stamford Bridge was the absolute epitome of that fact even if it was for all the wrong reasons. The absolutely appalling display from Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was deplorable at the semi final stage of the greatest club competition in the world.

Nap time at the Nou Camp

Barcelona and Chelsea got the Champions League semi finals under way last night and it was probably the most anti-climatic game of the tournament so far. The game was hyped to such an extent in the media that it was always going to be hard for the players to live up to it but what they actually produced was well below the mark at this stage of the worlds premier club tournament. Anyone who has trouble sleeping should get a copy of this game to watch at bedtime because it could be just the tonic they need.

Toontown suffers as Shearer gets it wrong

The appointment of Alan Shearer as Newcastles caretaker boss is quickly starting to look like another detremental decision by owner Mike Ashley. Shearer has only secured two points since taking charge four games ago and it is looking less likely that he will be able to guide his leaderless team to safety as they played out a toothless 0-0 draw with Portsmouth at St. James Park tonight.

The Magpies are currently third from bottom with four games to play and are level with second last place Middlesboro with thirty one points. Hull City are fourth from bottom with thirty four points but their recent run of eighteen games without a win clearly states that they are still vulnerable.

If Shearer is to overhaul Phil Browns Tigers and secure Premier League safety it will take a miracle of epic proportions from the Geordie messiah. He will have to move mountains to get there as every passing game reinforces the idea that not all great players make good managers.

Webb gifts Utd a Penalty…and the Title

Harry Redknapps body language in his post game press conference at Old Trafford on Saturday evening told the whole story. The Spurs manager was totally dejected after watching his side torn apart in the second half  but he was also disguted with the controversial penalty awarded to Man Utd. Redknapps disgust and disappointment was totally warranted as the man who gave the initiative to Manchester United on the day was not one of his players or one of Utds, it was referee Howard Webb.

Rafas Reds trounce timid Tigers

For the first time in weeks things went according to the script for Rafa Benitez and his Liverpool side. After nearly two months of nail biting football the Reds got back to what they have been known for with Benitez, ruthless efficiency. The way in which they discarded Hull City at the K.C Stadium was quite pale in comparison to the champagne football of recent weeks and months but against Phil Browns dogged Tigers it was never going to be pretty.

Liverpool and Arsenal serve up the tastiest dish of the season

The game voted the best in Premier League history is up for debate again after last nights events at Anfield. Liverpool vs Newcastle in the 95/96 season is widely regarded as the greatest game since the inception of the League but last nights game was surely a match for it.

It was a game of total football where both teams went for the jugular in the kind of way that we all want to see as football fans. Both sides played some excellent stuff but the game will surely be remembered as not only one of the greatest matches in league history but also as the night when Andrei Arshavin properly introduced himself to English football. The Russian forward became the first away player since 1946 to score 4 goals at Anfield in a performance worthy of any stage in world football.

Toffees knock Utd off their perch

Manchester Uniteds quest to win five trophies in one season was brought to an end on Sunday at Wembley and it was no less than they deserved. Alex Fergusons team selection has cost his side an unprecedented quintuple and showed that even the Scotsman can get things wrong from time to time. Ferguson suggested in his Friday morning press conference that Rafa Benitez was arrogant for saying Everton was a small club but his team selection for this game would suggest that he is of the same opinion.

The decision to leave the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Van der Sar out of the team was a bad one in hindsight as the young players that replaced them struggled to step up to mark. The fact that Everton are so desperate for silverware should have made Ferguson realise that he needed a stronger outfit if he wanted to see Wembley again this season.

Blue and Red epic

Finally after all the meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool we were presented with a game of epic proportions. The hype that surrounds this annual fixture usually leads to an anti-climax but the Tuesday night goal fest that was dished up was anything but. It was a great spectacle and the remaining Champions League games will have to be special to match the excitement and unpredictability of this quarter final second leg encounter.

Chelsea leave Reds raw

Football can really surprise you. Even the most fanatical Chelsea fan would not have predicted their 3-1 win at Anfield in the Champions league last night. A place in the semi-finals is now theirs for the taking after beating what was billed as an in-form Liverpool side in this last eight encounter.

Liverpool were the favourites going in for the first time in the nine games they have played against each other in the Champions League in past five years but it wasn’t to be a good omen for them. Their zonal marking system cost them dearly in a game where they never really stepped up to the mark. Two of Chelseas three goals came from corners and both were headers scored by Branislav Ivanovic. It was a case of fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me for the Liverpool players.

Man Utd fans only sing when they’re winning

Manchester Uniteds fans proved once again this evening that they are nothing but a bunch of bandwagon supporters. Its sad to see a team which has such a huge support play in a half empty Old Trafford when things start to go against them. The silence that engulfed Old Trafford during tonights game against FC Porto was proof of that.

The game finished 2-2 but to look at the Utd support you would think they had just gotten stuffed. Other than a brief burst of glory glory Man Utd when they finally took the lead you could have heard a pin drop. The ground was then stunned into silence again with Porto’s late equaliser which promted the exit of the Utd faithful.

Liverpool vs Chelsea…The saga continues

It’s becoming an annual event. Liverpool and Chelsea go head to head in the Champions League quarter finals on Wednesday night at Anfield and it promises to be a corker. This will be the 5th time in as many years that these two clubs have gone toe to toe on the biggest stage in football.

There is so much recent history between the 2 that it always seems like there are scores to be settled every time the two sides go into battle. Luis Garcias much debated phantom goal in the 2005 semi-final 2nd leg was the start of what is fast becoming 1 of the most eagerly anticipated grudge matches on the football calender.

The Unknown Soldier saves Utd

Man Utds unlikely hero

Football can sometimes throw up the most unlikely of heroes and yesterday at Old Trafford was probably the best example of that fact we will see all season. In a game where Manchester Utd looked like they were going to lose 3 in a row for the first time in years, it took an unknown 17 year old Italian to save the day and the 3 points for Utd.