Blaine Tulley

As they approach, once again, the 100 million pound mark in the transfer market, Manchester City and head coach Roberto Mancini still find facets of their team to dislike. Yet, for a team still searching for a striker to add to an already formidable attack, much respect is already deserved to what appears to be […]

How did Spain and the Netherlands come to be in the final? How can this be? These are my two favorite National teams to watch (after the USA, of course). These are surely the two greatest footballing countries to have never won a World Cup. Okay, yes: I predicted these two would be in the final in my bracket predictor (and consequently […]

The conclusion of the group stage this afternoon pushes the tournament into the win or go home stage. No longer can games be capped at 90 minutes and a tie. Now they can go a full 120 minutes with out a single goal before it is extended into the delicious realm of penalties. Dreaded by […]

Is this World Cup smoking crack? It has been a strange one. Sure, there have been moments of crisp, clear beauty (beginning with Siphiwe Tshabalala's screaming torpedo of a shot in the first match), but for me the event has been overtaken by the surprises woven throughout. The unexpected moments and outcomes have ruled this […]

I admit I've been spoiled. For most of the past two and half years I've enjoyed just about every Liverpool fixture live. No matter my late hours working in restaurants, I've usually been able to trek down to our pub (or at least roll out of bed and catch the matches that were on […]

Eyjafjallajokull. Yes this is what comes out when I drink too much coffee and then absentmindedly drum my fingers on the keyboard without looking. But it's also the name of the Icelandic volcano that has been spewing ash into the air causing flight bans in Europe and disrupting travel all over the world. Thousands of people have been stranded. […]

I'm more confused than anything else. In my last post I asked that we maintain the good form, no matter what the outcome of the season. I should have added we must cling to clear-headed decision making from now to the end. The last two outings for Liverpool were derailed by bad judgement by Ryan […]

In my last post (before the United match), I was filled with cautious optimism. But ultimately I had every reason to believe Liverpool would put up a better fight at Old Trafford than they ended up doing. Even when the Reds are struggling, we tend to switch on and turn into a tougher, more combative side […]

Babel lofted the clearance from deep inside Liverpool's half. The ball somehow latched on to Torres' homing beacon. The defender let it bounce. Torres ate it up like a starved Bengal tiger. He kept the other defender just at bay, picked his moment and flicked the ball over the sliding keeper. The ball went softly into […]

Who were we watching? Standing in the pub, we made the irresistible jokes about how Barcelona had flown to Anfield and donned our side's red jerseys. The Liverpool side that couldn't carve out a goal against Wigan or Lille was nowhere to be seen. This was a flowing, determined outfit. Just about everybody was playing healthy for once. Aquilani was […]

I'm the fan who demands my one year in denial. I cling to the hopes of last season, refusing to believe something can't be salvaged from this one (as the definition of salvage changes from Can we still finish top four? to Can we still finish top six? Top seven?) With my team so plagued by injury […]

Last night I hunted down a clip on my 501 goals DVD. It's Liverpool's Craig Johnston talking sometime in the 80s about Liverpool's approach: "It's the simplicity of the game that Liverpool play that's so amazing... You get the ball at your feet... And you see players like Phil Neal and Sammy Lee—and see them five […]

Well, Torres is back. That's about the biggest consolation I can take from the last two outings. We may have gotten the right result against Unirea, but if you didn't watch that match, trust me, the outcome doesn't reflect the awful, numbing football we sat through for most of ninety minutes. Where was the team […]

We could see the goal coming. Rosicky tore down the right side while our defense struggled to get back into position. His cross was going nowhere but to Diaby's head which had no one marking it. Diaby knocked the ball past Pepe and the Gunners were up. Liverpool had done so well to absorb Arsenal attacks for 70-plus minutes, […]

It's hard to know how to call this match. On one hand Liverpool are coming off back-to-back victories including a ten-man derby win. On the other Arsenal definitely have something to prove after Manchester United and Chelsea have patently exposed the holes in their armor. They'll see us as a big team they can beat […]