For once International Week worked in our favour as Rafa had to drop Mascherano. Had he been available he may have resorted to his usual cautious side and played two deep midfielders against a newly promoted team that Chelsea destroyed a fortnight ago. Gerrard can't sit back for too long in any case and it was his power that moved Burnley to panic. If there's a better player in the world at running through defences I'd like to see him. Yeah, Ronaldo, I know, but he relies on a change of pace than power. Gerrard loves to hunch his neck into his shoulders and charge. He was outstanding again and what with his Bolton goal the ghosts of his Villa performances are little more than a bad memory.
The day, of course, belongs to Yossi - the milk faced assassin. He deserved his hatrick, should have had four and set up Dirk's tap-in. Comparisons with Beardsley are inevitable as he doesn't just have the skill, he also has the bare-faced cheek to get out of holes and still find a Red shirt. As he was applauded off I could only wonder what Rafa had seen in Babel to start him against Spurs ahead of Yossi. There was talk of a knock but he seemed fine when he got on. Ah, well. A lesson learned. Yossi is a starter as much as Gerrard and Torres. Please.
I love weekends like this. The media went to Man City for its story rather than searching for the next instalment in our weekly panto. Adebayor will get a ban for having the temerity for celebrating against people who gave him dogs' abuse for ninety minutes which smells of hypocrisy. It's hard to be the victim if you were trying to hurt your assailant in the first place. Course, Gary Neville did the same against us (although he didn't score) and I was infuriated by that so maybe I'm too close away from the incident to be objective. Neville received a two match ban but Adebayor's stamp will increase that. If Owen does that…well, I don't even want to think about it. Personally, I like watching Adebayor celebrate as it means we're going to scoring in the next minute.
Meanwhile in the board room, the snakes are whispering behind their hands (do snakes have hands?) and are asking the world to take their Walter Mitty views as gospel. Our finances have never been stronger apparently. Jesus, even I'm richer than LFC these days but I wouldn't try to convince my bank that everything's rosy. A new sponsor with a deal that is worth double of United's sponsorship (Yes! That'll show 'em) is on the cards and soon another shite logo will desecrate the shirt. Is there any chance we can be sponsored by Royal Liver Insurance? I quite like the little picture of the bird. If it means the end of Carlsberg and their public statement about the lack of new stadium then I suppose it's progress.
One welcome guest of the day was Michael Shields. The flag that crossed the Kop pre-game, 'Justice Jack - One Down, 96 To Go', summed it up perfectly. I've read Liverpool fans saying that Jack Straw should take some credit. Not from me. It's like thanking a kidnapper for untying you from a radiator. Christ knows what the new evidence was, we can only conjecture but I suspect it was something to do with a circle around an election date. Michael is looking at the future positively and refuses to be bitter but he was shafted by two legal systems. At the end of his ITV interview he was asked if he would ever recover from his ordeal. He looked the interviewer in the eye and said 'Definitely' with a smile, a smile that shone with dignity. Look that word up, Jack. It begins with a 'D'. If you're in a listening mood you might want to speak to Anne Williams.
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