“Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez showed more signs of forging a potent strike partnership as Liverpool strolled to victory over West Brom – and former Reds manager Roy Hodgson – at the Hawthorns. A Charlie Adam penalty and Carroll’s third goal of the campaign confirmed Liverpool’s superiority as they climbed into fifth spot in the Barclays Premier League. But it was the way that Carroll and Suarez gelled which would have given the most satisfaction to Reds boss Kenny Dalglish.” ESPN

Liverpool wait on Gerrard results
“Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will have to wait until at least Wednesday to discover how long his latest injury will keep him on the sidelines. Gerrard, who had only recently returned from a groin problem that kept him out of action for six months, missed Liverpool’s 2-0 win at West Brom on Saturday and was pictured leaving hospital with his right leg in a protective cast.” ESPN

Gritty Stoke subdue sizzling Reds but Suarez’s brilliance secures the win
“A wonder-goal from Suarez and a wonder-assist from Henderson (for Suarez’s second) ensured Liverpool left the Britannia Stadium bound for the next round of the League Cup. The Reds were good value for the win and we saw some fantastic early play from them before the game petered out into a somewhat scrappy contest.” Micro LFC

Sebastian Coates
“Last night for a brief moment Jonathan Walters made Liverpool’s Sebastián Coates look distinctly average. With Walters bearing down on him, deep inside his own half, the Uruguayan international hesitated on the touchline with the ball. Several failed attempts to jink past the striker later, and a particularly lack lustre effort at a clearance and Liverpool were 1-0 down. It looked amateurish, it was clumsy and had seemingly provided Liverpool’s hoards of pessimists with a new scapegoat. Move over Lucas Leiva, farewell Emilano Insua, we’ve got a new young, South American to spit venom at for 90 minutes every Saturday.” Sabotage Times

“Some three-quarters of an hour before kick-off, Harry Redknapp entered Anfield, posing obligingly for supporters taking pictures on their camera-phones. If the smile seemed a little forced, the chances are that, when he left Liverpool’s ground, his grin was altogether wider. While Newcastle have a four-point cushion in fourth place, Tottenham’s status as favourites to finish there was cemented by a combination of fine goalkeeping, profligate finishing and the Merseyside woodwork.” ESPN

Liverpool 1 – 1 Norwich City – Match Report
“The lynch mob went into overdrive yesterday following the 1-1 draw with Norwich. The sheer volume of over-the-top reactions to the game was astonishing. Away from all the blood and thunder, a statistical analysis of the draw offers us a calm, rational sense of perspective. Norwich will not give points away easily in the league this season, as they proved against Manchester United. Their league position of 8th is justified and they gave a good account of themselves again yesterday. They had 8 shots on goal, one less than the total United managed last week and on par with Arsenal’s shots against us at the Emirates. They were, therefore, somewhat of a force to be reckoned with.” The Empire of the Kop

“It’s often said that a player returning from a long-term injury is like having a new signing and that is certainly true for Liverpool after Steven Gerrard’s first start in more than six months last weekend. He couldn’t have asked for a much better comeback, playing 90 minutes against Manchester United and scoring a goal too. As the captain and the driving force of Liverpool, his return is obviously a massive boost and he will be looking to kick on again when Norwich visit Anfield on Saturday.” ESPN

“This Saturday will mark the anniversary of Fenway Sports Group’s takeover of Liverpool and it comes just a few days after UK magazine FourFourTwo published its annual Football Rich List. The magazine ranked FSG owner John W Henry at 20th in the list, and calculated that each Premier League point Liverpool had earned since the purchase has cost Henry a whopping £7.5 million ($11.7M). (The team it beat last week, local rivals Everton, comes in at £48,000 per point, given that owner Bill Kenwright paid £20M for it in 2004.)” SI

“I’ve always rather liked Liverpool. Hardly surprising really. In 1980s Essex, as they were in most of the Home Counties, they were the natural affiliation for all 8 year old boys. Indeed, until my dad took me to Roots Hall and turned me to the mediocre side, I had ‘Shankly Gates’ bedcovers. There, I said it. But there’s something about Liverpool that appeals to me even now, much to the amusement of other more cynical souls. I love the history, the ethos, Bill Shankly’s socialist principles, the Kop and their standing ovations for opponents who have pleased them.” In Bed With Maradona

Joseph Vernet, Imaginary Landscape, Italian Harbor Scene
“Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was the villain in the eyes of Everton fans after he was involved in the sending-off of Jack Rodwell before scoring the second goal in a controversial 2-0 derby victory. The Uruguay international was berated as a cheat by the majority of Goodison Park – and appeared to have a coin thrown at him – after making the most of Rodwell’s sliding tackle midway through the first half.” ESPN>

Everton vs. LIVERPOOL: 15 positives to take from the game
“Liverpool’s victory against Everton at Goodison Park was marred by an outrageously negligent red card decision, but there were still plenty of positives to take away from the game.” Liverpool Kop

“Luis Suarez was visibly upset after being substituted against Wolves yesterday, and as soon as the final whistle went, he sped off down the tunnel as quickly as possible. Players get subbed off all the time, and there’s absolutely no shame in being replaced by Steven Gerrard, so why was Suarez particularly upset? For me, the answer is obvious, and I can understand his frustration.” Liverpool Kop

Reasons to be cheerful
“What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in familiarity. As many have done before them and, no doubt, plenty of others will do in the future, the travelling supporters from Wolverhampton asked: ‘Where’s your famous atmosphere?’ Their answer came three times before the final whistle. At a club where they celebrate their bona fide heroes and castigate the false idols, it was hard to say which drew the loudest cheer: was it Steven Gerrard’s first Anfield appearance for six months, a quite stunning goal by the irrepressible Luis Suarez or the announcement of Fernando Torres’ sending-off 200 miles away?” ESPN

“True enough, it’s only the Third Round of the League Cup and both of the teams playing this evening, whether rightly or wrongly, may well feel that they have bigger fish to fry than this competition this season. There is, however, something in the sea air in Brighton this evening. The trains into the railway station are jammed solid and the queue for the trains out to The American Express Community Stadium snakes out of the station and around the concourse outside. There’s no hint of trouble, of course, and everybody is safely in their seat by kick-off the time of kick-off, but the sheer volume of traffic of the majority of a crowd of almost 22,500 pouring through a main railway station during the rush hour adds inevitable pressures. It all seems, however, dealt with very professionally indeed.” twohundredpercen

“So apart from losing 0-4, having two men sent off and one taken off injured, everything went according to plan at White Hart Lane then! It was a sobering defeat and awful performance alright, the sort we don’t get too often, mercifully, and on a par both quantitively and qualitively with the worst of them. But not unprecedented. And where can you look for context, for solace, other than history? How often do these heavy defeats happen and what can we learn from them? How were we doing at the time they happened – in a trough already or did they come out of the blue? – and what effect did they have on us subsequently? Can we find any comfort from heavy defeats in the past?” Tomkins Times

“Liverpool stumbled over a familiar hurdle at the Britannia Stadium as they slipped to their first defeat of the season. In four visits to Stoke since the Potters earned promotion to the Premier League, the Reds have collected just two points and lost their last two matches. Not since 1968 have Stoke recorded back-to-back home league wins over Liverpool and the result brought a side brimming with confidence before the international break back down to earth with a hefty bump.” ESPN

Stoke City record valuable victory over wasteful Liverpool
“After a start to the season that took them to the top of the table for the first time in two years, there had been growing talk of Liverpool having developed into genuine title contenders. But at a ground that has consistently proved to be a graveyard of success for the club came the feeling that even at this earliest of stages, their championship hopes may just have died a little.” Guardian

“As a rule, English players rarely move abroad. These days, it’s arguable they don’t need to — the money is in England, as are many of Europe’s best clubs — but even when Italy and Spain find themselves in similar privileged positions, you see their players venturing to different countries. The English stick to what they know, for various reasons — poor language skills, perhaps, or a reluctance to experience a different culture. The lack of knowledge from overseas is arguably one of the many reasons that has made English football so insular.” ESPN

“THERE are remixes and then there are remixes… When I first started buying 12″ records around 1986, it seemed every single had a dance remix available to buy for a pound or so more. Less so much a remix, more a lengthening procedure – what you got was essentially just the same record but extended at the start for four minutes or so with some pre-house disco beats knocked out by the likes of Shep Pettibone, Jellybean Benitez or Arthur Baker.” The Anfield Wrap

“Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam scored their first Liverpool goals as the Reds crushed Bolton 3-1 to move top of the Premier League. The summer signings struck either side of a powerful Martin Skrtel header as the hosts, inspired by the outstanding Luis Suarez, produced an electrifying performance at Anfield.” ESPN

Liverpool 3-1 Bolton
“Fluid attacking, solid defending, intense pressuring and high-scoring. It was a sublime performance from Liverpool. Kelly’s injury and Klasnic’s late consolation goal for Bolton were slight annoyance’s in an otherwise perfect day. Suarez was up to his usual mischief, running Bolton’s defenders ragged and creating some great chances. The beautiful cross with the outside of his foot eventually lead to Henderson’s first Liverpool goal, which was expertly finished.” Joshua Kearney

“We all love the player that scores and gets assists. Those guys whose moments of genius at the end of an attacking move directly create the goals that get our teams to glory. And why not? The professionals, however – the coaches, the directors, the scouts, and so on – are capable of seeing things outside the box. Or, rather, inside the box. The large technical box of cogs and gears which power the team and allow those creative players to shine.” Tomkins Times

“This was another of those occasions that confirmed how much more comfortable life is under Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool succeeding where they failed last year by overcoming lower-league opposition to progress to the next round of the Carling Cup with the minimum of fuss. Daniel Nardiello scored a late penalty for Exeter City but Liverpool were strolling by that stage, following an outstanding display by Luis Suárez, who left the field to applause from all sides of the ground.” Guardian

“Occasionally in life, something happens that is so alien, so counterintuitive, so brain-jarringly wrong that it makes you question whether there can ever again be such a thing as certainty. It was May the 14th 1988, FA Cup final day, and I was in the pub. Nothing unusual or counterintuitive about that, as anyone who knows me would confirm.” Twisted Blood

“Footballers are always going to be in the headlines. Late night drinking, kiss-and-tell stories and mega transfers create big news stories. We even have Kenny Dalglish (and most of his extended family) on Twitter. Traditional media has relied on the mutually beneficial relationship between on one side players, clubs and managers and on the other, local and national journalists to publicise (and criticise) in equal measure. The advent of Twitter and other social media platforms has provided novel and more direct channels of communication and interaction. Clubs, associations, companies and individuals can communicate instantaneously with fans and followers. The immediacy, ease of communication and the instantaneous nature of, for example, tweeting players means mistakes and mishaps are inevitable. The more high-profile the individual, the juicer the story.” Tomkins Times

“Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes the club have gone about their transfer business ‘responsibly’ – even though the club have spent over £100 million since he returned as manager. Luis Suarez, Andrew Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Alexander Doni…” ESPN

“‘The 0-10-0 formation looks quite viable,’ reports Koichiro Yamamura” Guardian

“TALK to anyone in the game about Dominic Matteo and the soundbites are always the same. ‘Decent player, never really fulfilled his potential at Liverpool, did well at Leeds though… what’s he doing now?'” Liverpool FC

“First off, I’ll spare the usual story–let’s just say I fell in love with the game and due to various (seemingly extraneous) reasons, fell even more deeply in love with Liverpool Football Club. And yes, I’m also an American–Texan to be precise. This site (and many others) are full of stories like mine. Americans who, for one reason or another, became passionate fans of teams thousands of miles away. That’s the short version, for now at least. What has finally distinguished me from this teeming multitude that wear jerseys and get up at ungodly hours to watch the English Premier League on weekends, is that I’ve made the trip to my football holy land–Anfield.” EPL Talk

“A certain player happens to have completed more successful crosses in the past three seasons than anyone else in the Premier League; he is the top-flight’s 5th-most successful chance-creator over the past seven seasons, and the only one of that top five to not be in a Champions League side over the duration (the other four being the world-famous quartet of Fabregas, Gerrard, Lampard and Giggs). His club’s Player of the Year, he is someone who has regularly registered in excess of ten assists a season throughout his career, with as many as 14 in 2006/07, and is capable of getting double-figures in goals (he did so in 2007/08, and was just one shy of last season). All this, and on average fit to play in all but three games a season over the past five years. (Stats courtesy of Opta Joe.)” Tomkins Times

“Liverpool’s new midfielder Charlie Adam may have been playing beside the seaside at Blackpool last season, but he was the ultimate big fish in a small pond. Ian Holloway was frank about Adam’s impact upon his side. ‘If he plays well, we play well,’ Blackpool’s manager said.” ESPN

“Director of Football Damien Comolli speaks about Charlie Adam, set pieces, transfer strategy and how he believes there will be plenty more comings and goings at Liverpool over the coming months.” Liverpool FC

“In a summer packed with tedious transfer speculation surrounding the on-off-on-off sagas of Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Tevez, it was a pleasant surprise that Liverpool were this week linked with an €8m swoop for little-known Brest striker Nolan Roux. Liverpool sports director Damien Comolli obviously knows the French market well, but with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez already at the club – not to mention Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, and at time of writing, David N’Gog, Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic also on the books – where would Roux fit in? We asked a French football scout who has watched Roux in action for his thoughts.” Sabotage Times

“Jordan Henderson has yet to kick a football for Liverpool – even in training – and many are already writing him off. If playing poorly – or rather, failing to shine as expected – for England at any level is an indicator, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard would have been totally worthless for Liverpool; little matter that they are two of the club’s top five players ever. Hell, even Lionel Messi hasn’t been even half as good for Argentina as he has for Barcelona, and Argentina actually pass the ball.” Tomkins Times

“Saturday afternoon, along with hangover I was at probably the highest seat in the Liverpool Echo Arena, but it was a seat that did make for a good view of the whole of pitch at the Merseyside Master. Liverpool lifted the trophy captained by a very round John Barnes. His side included FA Cup winner Stephane Henchoz, Paul Jones the Southampton keeper who only ever played 3 games for Liverpool during an emergency loan spell, alongside him Norwegian Kvarme and the tournaments Golden Boot winner Paul Walsh.” Touchline Shouts