Match of the Season: Liverpool vs Everton
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"You miss a player of that quality, but it will give us a lift to have him out there."
ESPNsoccernet: England 
Monday, January 5, 2009
Rafa warns Reds to quell Cup derby fever
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has warned Liverpool must contain their anticipation over the Merseyside derby FA Cup tie which is sure to be the talk of their city all month - because there are important matches to be won in the meantime for his table-toppers.
Liverpool and Everton will clash twice in a week, in the Premier League on January 19 and then in the fourth round of the cup the following weekend.
With both games at Anfield, Benitez knows a crucial stage beckons in Liverpool's quest for both the league title and Cup.
He told Liverpoolfc.tv: "It is a draw which will excite everyone in the city, because everyone knows about the great rivalry that exists between the two clubs.
"But we must remember that we have some big games coming up in the league before the cup tie - and we will be taking one game at a time.
"Only when the cup game comes around will it become our focus. Before then we play Stoke and Everton in the league, so we must keep our attention on those matches.
"But it is good to have so many important matches, because it shows that your team is doing well."
Reds defender Jamie Carragher sees the return of forward Fernando Torres, who scored on his comeback from injury on Saturday in the third-round win at Preston, as vital to Liverpool's aspirations this season.
Torres had not played since November because of a hamstring problem, but his late goal completed a 2-0 win at Deepdale.
Carragher said: "Having Torres back has given everyone a big lift. It is great when you see a player of that calibre coming back for the second half of the season.
"We hope the time he has been out will refresh him, because he had a long season with the Euro 2008 finals last summer.
"A lot of players have played a lot of games this season, because the manager hasn't changed it around so much.
"It has been a feather in the cap for everyone concerned with the club that we have reached the top of the table without having the best striker in the world in the side.
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Hurray Benitez .
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So tonight la ...4am , live ch-27 , football channel . Tomorrow me not working , can shiok a bit than some of you people here .
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nabei cheebye.
rafa, players are not farking computer players with fatigue numbers. u dont change momentum by shuffling a winning team with a cock player like lucas.
his first touch was to give away a foul.
5 more farking minutes makes no difference in torres's fatigue level but a huge risk when the opposition defense get a break.
when will u ever learn.
now u upset your players spirits, i am quite sure everton has the upper edge in the coming FA tie and put a dent in the subsequent games mentality.
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its more frustrating when u noticed that the bench has mascherano and lucas was chosen over him in the closing stage.
lucas may not be main culprit behind the free kick nor marking cahill, i cannot help noticing that the team suddenly get panicky at his arrival.
no doubt he might have the potential but u dont "try" out players during moments like this.
i really hope rafa is happy now. penalty or not, you gave away the advantage with a bad call.
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Liverpool 1 - 1 Everton: Liverpool will never walk alone as they can never leave anyone behind. They may find themselves in good company with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton to sniff motor smoke emissed by United and Chelsea. Ha ha ha.
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i am very disappointed with the results. after gerrard score, liverpool switched off and play without conviction at all. that's not champions are made of. i am probably more awake than some of the players there on the field.
they didn't do a single thing right with the score in their favor; giving the ball away needlessly, not holding play, allowing everton to come at them, conceding fouls....etc. imo, it is an equaliser waiting to happen.
i think it will really be tough now....
unlike the chelsea-stoke game, you could sense chelsea wanted to comeback into the game. this one, liverpool had it in the bag but fluffed it.
terrible result.
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Liverpool are no more the Kops without the Captain whereas Manchester United are no more the Red Devils with the Captain just returned:))
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i want to give credit to David Moyes and his boys for giving a fight .
Well .... true la for not playing Keane , instead Lucas was played ahead of Mascherano . Some big guns were kept for the coming UCL fixtures i think .
Now Rafa has to think over for not winning .....
I am not too frustrated , cos i think the Championship is not over until May . Now only January .
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big guns? lol.
what kind of big guns do we have? -
Originally posted by limpper:
big guns? lol.
what kind of big guns do we have?Mis-fire, soft, lots of smoke but no round ones....
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good game overall. entertaining for the neutrals.
everton made the most of their rare set-pieces and made liverpool's 90% of possession looks pretty but useless.
babel was the only crappy player out there who has no radar on where the ball is. apart from that, the team played rather well except to impose themselves in the final third.
hope a replay is not going to take a toll on the already congested fixtures, though the reds stand a higher chance in winning away games.
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I think we're about to see what has become almost customary: Liverpool capitulating after the new year begins. While this is only a draw, and not a defeat, that's twice now in the space of a week that a threadbare Everton have thwarted their crosstown rivals. Liverpool have been plagued with an inability to score, and Rafa must be wondering where his strikers are. His tirade against Ferguson, instead of boosting the confidence of his side and demoralizing Manchester United, has seemed to have done the opposite. United seem to be going on strength to strength, while Liverpool have put together a string of highly unsatisfactory, and quite frankly, poor performances. Despite the continued telepathy between Torres and Gerrard, there have been few positives for Rafa since the new year, particularly that Torres has not been scoring. The defense has also been lacklustre, compounding Liverpool's problems. The pressure is truly on Rafa now, and off-field issues will certainly not help, particularly if his contract dispute persists. These performances will catch up to them, and while it is still too early to say, it seems that the Kop will have to wait to celebrate a league title.
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do u mind if we lose the replay....not me! but with the amt of time/energy wasted on them, i really hope we kicked their butts off tis time!
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macam like small kid who refuse to learn his lesson.
immediately after giving away a penalty, this week lucas got himself sent off.
the only positive sides i could see from this loss is that the players wont be distracted by FA cup and i wont get to see lucas for at least a couple of games.
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It still baffled me whenever I see Lucas in the line up...For goodness sake, when will Rafa ever learn? This idiot will never be good enough even in the Liverpool reserve team...Last week, he gave away a penalty and this week he got himself sent off and for goodness sake, I rather he got himself a straight red card rather than two yellows because the two yellow cards will mean that I may see him again after a one game break.. He is the worst player in a Liverpool shirt in recent memories without any doubt.
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logically, if keane is sold after juz 6 mths, lucas shd've gone looong time ago!
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i hate lucas
