What are the “Right Means” to get into the Europa League?

Brendan Rodgers doesn’t want to play in the Europa League if Liverpool qualifies through the UEFA Respect Fair Play rankings.

By Bill Farnham

“I want to get [to the Europa League] through the right means, through our performance level, and if we have to have a year where we are not in Europe it is going to give us an opportunity to push on.”

Brendan Rodgers, in reference to potential qualification for the Europa League in 2014 through the UEFA Respect Fair Play rankings, as reported in the Guardian May 1, 2013.

There are lots of potential responses to this statement from Brendan Rodgers, however I’d like to offer perhaps the simplest one as a starting point: Rodgers is dead wrong.

Playing the managerial blame game won’t change Liverpool’s situation

By Christopher Boulay

It’s that time of year again. Liverpool is predictably underperforming, and the crosshairs are pointed squarely at the manager.

That statement could have been written during the first few weeks of each calendar year since 2010, and it would have made sense, in some aspect. Frustration has come to be the overwhelming feeling of many Liverpool supporters, who were both so fortunate and spoiled to have two Champions League Final appearances within the past decade.

The Scintillating and Simulating Suarez

By Justin Fitzgerald

Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and may not actually even be the right thing to do anymore, depending on the timing and unintended consequences. I’m talking of course, about Luis Suarez’s recent admission of simulation in a match against Stoke City earlier this year. I know what you’re thinking, “Suarez dove?!” You don’t say… Also the Earth is round, water is wet, and Sir Alex Ferguson often has choice words for any referee whose name doesn’t rhyme with ‘Schmoward Schmeb.’

Liverpool’s New Year’s Resolutions

(Don’t Take This Seriously, For Real)

By Bill Farnham

Now that the dust from the holiday fixtures has settled and I have a few minutes to think about what has transpired over the past year, I thought I might offer some encouragement to the Liverpool players and some additional folks in the form of potential New Year’s Resolutions. In no specific order, here we go…

The Game of Many, Many, Many Flaws

By Jim Kostecki

Disclaimer: This article may or may not contain sarcasm.

I remember a time when watching a Liverpool game was enjoyable

Watching Liverpool these days is what I imagine a colonoscopy to feel like – awkward and painful, yet slightly comforting in a weird way. Did I mention awkward?

While my fellow Liverpool friends celebrated Liverpool’s come from behind win on Sunday, I couldn’t help but think, “What the hell did I just watch?” It seems that being in the bottom-half of the Premier League table for the first 15 games of the season has numbed me to a concept that only teams of the highest caliber subscribe to: finding a way to win. This ethos is something that Liverpool blatantly refuses to follow.

A Steady Hand on the Rudder

By Carl Thames

Being Liverpool’s manager is fraught with expectations.  The owners expect wins and trophies, not to mention a return on their investment.  The supporters go further, demanding the wins and a return to prominence in England and Europe.  While no one can see into the mind of Brendan Rodgers, these two sets of expectations likely pale to those he has set for himself.

Rafa’s Return to the Premier League: New Chelsea manager puts fandom in a hard spot

By John Dutton

My mate Jason is a Chelsea fan. He runs my local pub and when I watched the Chelsea vs. Liverpool match there two weeks ago he made a joke with my 9-year-old son: “Do you know where Rafa [Benitez] is now?” he asked. “Working in a restaurant somewhere in Spain,” was the answer. Har, har, har.

But who’s laughing now? Rafael Benítez has been appointed interim Chelsea manager until the end of the season and Jason just admitted that his head is about to explode trying to come to terms with the nightmare. He and a lot of other Chelsea fans simply refer to Rafa as the FSW (Fat Spanish Waiter), but now there he is, taking the reins at Stamford Bridge.