Down But Not Out

Well Blackburn was a gutter of a result. Same mistakes from our defence we've seen too many times already this season, namely a soft cross coming in from our left and the defence getting sucked over, leaving a man spare. Didn't help that Pepe was out of position, but I count three errors in their goal, and not one of our back five came out smelling of roses.

We should have done enough afterwards to take the game back, but we didn't unfortunately, which leads to our next problem, which is our conversion rate. At around 7%, we're apparently something like 17th in the league on this stat.

At least Bellamy is off the mark, but from the moment the fixture computer did it's dirty work, very little seems to have gone right for us this season.

I refuse to believe our challenge is over, but we've got a lot of hard work to do and will have to exceed the two runs last season if we want to keep it alive.

Hopefully we can repeat what Arsenal did and start a run against the Mancs. Otherwise we may end up looking to qualify for Europe and take some silverware in another competition. Eleven points would be far from insurmountable, but we are making it hard for ourselves, and if we come away with a loss then the pressure will really be on.

I've not been one of those who has said we will definitely win the league this season: I think we need to overtake the Mancs first and close the gap on Chelsea as a platform to challenge them, but at this moment we are staring down the barrel a bit. Never say never though, as stranger things have happened.

Let's not forget Bordeaux away first. I wouldn't be surprised if Rafa picks a weakened lineup, looking for an away draw, so we can concentrate on the game at Old Trafford. Let's hope that doesn't bite us in the arse if I'm right, as I would hate to drop the ball in Europe and then not make up for it in the following fixture.

Bordeaux will be defensive even at home, and they will be looking hard at our left-back area for an advantage. I think we've got the quality to get a result, whatever lineup Rafa picks, but the next two games could prove crucial and we have to start taking our chances if we want to take something from this season.

Lack of Updates and Bellamy's Form

Apologies about that. I've had a monster flu, and been busy at work as well. Not to mention the disappointment of letting in two in the second half against Galatasaray and then losing to Bolton. Combine that with International week and I'm not a happy Zig.

Something has managed to lift my spirits though, and it's Bellamy's assist and goal for Wales. Not that I give a stuff about Wales. I'd usually rather them lose, but Bellamy has looked short of confidence in a Liverpool shirt of late, and when Wales got roundly trounced in his first game as Captain, I thought it could only get worse.

I watched the Wales game tonight, and he looked sharp and grew in confidence as the game went on. Blackburn's defence are in a different league to Cyprus, but playing against his former club, on a high from todays showing, hopefully he can net one at Anfield on Saturday and get on a run of form.

I wasn't exactly keen on the signing of Bellamy. His scoring record, apart from a purple patch last season, has always been woeful. In mitigation, that has coincided with perpetual injury, but he played quite a few games last season, and if he stays uninjured and finds his rhythm, I can see him getting fifteen to twenty goals for us this season.

What I've found to like about him since he joined the Mighty Reds is his willingness, his pace, his game intelligence and surprisingly his attitude, which has been little short of exemplary on the pitch. Perhaps he needs to bring back a bit more of the nasty streak, without losing his rag, and perhaps under Rafa he can improve his understanding of the offside trap, but there's potential there and I think he could well turn out to be more important for us than Cisse at less than half the price.

I hear you saying that Cisse scored nineteen goals last season, but to be frank I never felt he was likely to score playing though the centre, and apart from his goals he rarely gave us what we needed on the right wing. The jury is still out on Pennant in that position, but Bellamy looks a better bet than Djibril as a striker to me.

Hopefully Blackburn will be the game where he rids me of my pre-season doubts completely and finds his feet for LFC.