A Friend Who Indeed Is Not a Friend

2.  The goal that Liverpool scored was disallowed by one of Kevin Friend's linesmen but when you see still photographs of the incident, Luis was clearly onside and Liverpool should have been one up at that point.

3.  Craig got a yellow card for not allowing a Fulham player (whose name escapes me at the moment) to give him what-for.  He remained calm and quite frankly the only person that needed to be booked in that incident was the Fulham player.

4.  The worst decision of the evening came when Kevin Friend awarded Jay Spearing a straight red for what was simply nothing more than a good old fashioned tackle.

5. It also appeared that Kevin Friend had something against Luis Suarez as no decisions were again given in his favour.  The one point I will make here is that his previous history does not help his situation.

These decisions ultimately ruined what could have been a fascinating game.  I am not saying that we could have scored 5 against them again, but if you take the form the team are producing at the moment, it could have been possible.

That form became evident from the moment the game started, although the team on the pitch included Andy Carroll, instead of Maxi, who everyone thought would be included, given his scoring record in London, and indeed at Fulham.  The game was very lively from the start with Liverpool having most of the possession, but with Fulham now under the managerialship of Martin Jol, they failed to break down the defence and during the first half there seemed to be no sign of the much needed goal.

Fulham were in fact the closest to scoring first, having had a shot from Dembele saved by Pepe Reina on the six minute mark.  Fulham had found a way through our defence, which with Jamie sitting on the bench gave me a few nervous moments, but the partnership of Skrtel and Agger recovered to prove that some special is in the process of being built there.  Then came,  the inevitable pass from Charlie Adam to Suarez, which was picked up by Andy Carroll.  Now Andy seems to have forgotten what a goal is and failed once again.

Dembele again threatened the Liverpool goal on 16 minutes but Pepe saved the team once more and with both teams now pressing forward, it was a question of who would score first and the next person to try was Jordan Henderson.  Now Jordan has been slated since he joined the club - I will admit to doing it myself, but last night he showed that his confidence is returning and it is just a shame that once more the goal post got in the way. 

As the half edged towards its conclusion there were further onslaughts on the goal by both teams. Luis Suarez dribbled the ball to Andy Carroll which was ricocheted  away.  Dempsey for Fulham was the closest for them as he sent a volley towards Pepe, who at this point appeared to be having a great game.

The second half began as the first had ended, with Liverpool coming out determined to score.  Jose Enrique, who was again proving what a addition to the squad he is, picked up a follow-on ball from a corner and sent it towards the goal.  Schwartzer made yet another save and Liverpool were denied once again.  Skrtel also tried but with nothing seemingly going our way, it was another wasted chance.

Craig Bellamy who has also been a revelation since his return sent a free kick thundering towards the goal but it hit the wall.  Craig also sent a shot wide and was eventually replaced by Dirk Kuyt, quite possibly to ensure that he too was not given a red card.

The game continued and it looked as though the deadlock was finally broken, when Luis Suarez sent ball into the back of the net.  Enter Kevin Friend and his linesmen, Luis was ruled offside and the goal disallowed.  If you look back at the game and indeed at some of the stills that have been taken, he was not and the goal should have been awarded.

Jay Spearing, who had been brought into replace the injured Lucas, was having a good game and it looked as though, Kenny had found his perfect replacement, until in the second half, he went in to a tackle, in what I call the good old fashioned way.  His only intention was to win the ball, but Kevin Friend ruled that he was intent on hurting Dembele and the card was a red.

 Now I am not saying that a card should not have been issued, but as someone has said to me this morning, we might as well be playing table tennis or Netball, because the way football is now being played is ruining the game. Can you imagine watching Tommy Smith being sent off for doing the same, It didn't happen then and it should not be happening now.

This though set the wheels in motion for a Fulham victory.  Although Kenny made the decision to finally replace Carroll with Stewart Downing and as I said earlier, Bellamy with Kuyt, it did not help the cause.  The team did what they could with ten men but Fulham took the initiative which led to a mistake by Pepe Reina and they were in the lead. 

Although Liverpool spent the last few minutes of the game giving Schwarzer problems, the ball would still not go into the back of the net.

Fulham had won and what had begun as an evening of hope and ended in a miserable manner.  A manner which later in the evening , would take a further unwanted and perhaps unwarranted twist. There were suddenly reports in the media that Suarez had stuck his finger up at the Fulham supporters who had been taunting him all evening.  This unfortunately has been taken as an insult and will now be investigated along with his racial abuse case.

According to a lot of people this morning, it is another episode of where the cultural differences between countries come into play and in South American it is seen as a good greeting.  Now I have no idea about this, but I do wonder if when a foreign player joins an English club, cultural differences are pointed out to him.  It begs the question, if not - why not? because and I have nothing against Luis Suarez, he like Tevez may well in the long term become a liability.