Birmingham City v Liverpool Joint Fan Questions

I thought it was time to do another joint article with an opposing team’s fan. This time with our game against Liverpool coming up on Sunday, Russell Wall from the Liverpool FC blog AnfieldRed has answered some questions.

I have answered some similar questions, but from a Blues perspective, for him you can read them here.

Looking back, did you genuinely consider yourself possible title contenders?

I think you almost had to after the way we finished last season. We ended the year with 86 points, a record haul for Liverpool in the league. I’m never sure what to expect with this team, but the way we’d been playing last year led me to believe we’d be there, nipping at Chelsea or the mancs heels on the last weekend.

Looking back on it now, I never imagined we’d be in this position. To go from 70ish points one year to plus or minus about 5-8 points is understandable. But for the club to go from 86 to where we currently stand? I never saw that coming.

Is the Europa competition a reasonable alternative to the Champions League for Liverpool fans?

No way. I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that you’d be able to talk a supporter into the Europa league at this point. Given where the club currently is with the quality of players in the squad, I truly Champions League football is a must each year. We’ve got far too many big players and names to be playing in Europa.

Everyone knows our current debt problems. Next to United, we’ve got the worst debt situation in the league (Pompey is already out of the running for that title), so we really do rely on Champions League football for transfers and our general livelihood. I know some fans of the club have told me they’d be fine taking a year break from Champions League football to concentrate on the league.

I honestly believe that’s a preposterous statement. The CL’s importance to the club stretches far beyond just our dreams of bring home more silverware.

Who do you think has been your most important player(s) so far this season?

Without a doubt, it’s Fernando Torres. He’s picked up a couple of knocks here and there this year that left him on the physio table to extended periods. You just see how anaemic the offence was when he was missing.

He’s bagged 25 goals in this year in limited time. Plus, he’s got 7 in our last 4 matches. He’s finally rounding into form at the perfect time, and last weekend’s brilliant goal against Sunderland proved he’s quite possibly the best striker on the planet.

And the one(s) you’ve been least impressed by?

I would’ve put Ryan Babel in here if we’d talked a couple weeks ago, but he’s really woken up recently and looked pure class. I’m hoping that’s a sign of things to come for him.

The obvious answer is Albert Riera. He started in 35 matches for us last year, and this year it’s only be a total of 14. I really expected him to our answer to the left flank, but all he’s done so far this season is under-perform and slag off on the manager. He’s an enigma to the club and he’s got to go at this point. We don’t need players with a negative attitude — especially given our already fragile situation.

What are your thoughts on Rafa as a manager? Does he have what what it take to take the Liverpool to the very top?

I was wondering if this was going to be a question! I could go on for days and days about Rafa, but I’ll keep it short for your readers. If you’re asking me if Rafa has the class to take Liverpool to the top, I would say yes. I think he’s a brilliant manager, but sometimes he really needs to get out of his own way.

Case-in-point: Our strong run of form in the league has been aided by the change from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2. It’s literally made all the difference in the world. Instead of using that same formation we used against Lille during the mid-week Europa clash, he decided to go back to a defensive 4-2-3-1 against Man United and we looked just awful.

He’s very particular about his players and their positions on the pitch, but again, I don’t think being a perfectionist is a bad thing. I really believe if Rafa would take a few more chances and go with the in-form players more often, we’d be better off.

Even still, I think he’s the man to lead us to the top. He’s biggest hurdle will be dealing with current ownership for the long haul. It’s not shock that they just don’t get on with each other.

What are you best and worst memories of any previous meetings between Liverpool and Birmingham?

I haven’t been around for very long (I’m only 25), so I’d have to say the best memory for me would be the 2001 League Cup Final. I still remember going absolutely ballistic when Martin O’Connor was brought down by Stéphane Henchoz in the 90th minute. It was an obvious penalty, but I was already celebrating with a few of my mates before the final whistle. Was just glad to see us win it 5-4 on penalties!Worst defeat I reckon would be the record thrashing you put on us at St Andrews in 1954. Beat us 9-1 on that cold day. Glad I wasn’t around to see that one in person!

What sort of line-up will be put out against us?

I’m hoping Rafa will deploy the 4-4-2 that worked against Sunderland, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him revert back to the 4-2-3-1 against a more defensive side. Playing to Birmingham’s greatest strength makes no sense with our European hopes on the line. We’d essentially be cancelling you out, and that has boring draw written all over it.

Do you think the Europa game will cause players to be rested?

There’s no way Rafa rests anyone. Whilst we definitely want to advance to the next round of Europa, Rafa understands that the league and the Champions League are on the line. And the league should be priority number one until the end of the season. We play our home leg against Benfica the following Thursday, so that should give the squad more than enough time to rest.

Plus, we haven’t played since Sunday, so I wouldn’t expect our legs to be very tired after travelling to Portugal this Thursday for the first leg at the Estadio da Luz.

As a Liverpool fan, how do you view what has happened at the Blues this season? What have we done badly, what have we done well?

Well let’s be honest here, I don’t think anyone expected this kind of season from the Blues. Coming up one point short of the relegation zone in 2007-08 could’ve been more than enough to knock you all on your arses. But instead of sitting around feeling sorry, the club decided to use the season in the Championship as a jumping off point.

I know Newcastle supporters had to be devastated when the club went down last year, but look at they way they’ve been playing all season! It’s an exact mirror image of what I saw from Birmingham last year. I think you all took it as added motivation to get back up to the Premier League and make the most of the opportunity.

Being an eternal optimist, I always try to look at the good in every team, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect Birmingham to be knocking on the door for eight behind Everton. To call this season a total success would be an understatement. You’ve turned St Andrews into a formidable fortress where even the top four have to be alert at all times.

You’ve managed to grab points against Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United and Chelsea at home, whilst also finding a way to win a fantastic away matches at Everton. We’re talking about some of the best clubs in there world right there. I really think it goes without saying that this was a dream start for the club following promotion back to England’s top flight.

Would your season be considered a success? Well let me ask you this: does a bear shit in the woods? Of course this season has been a rousing success. You’d be crazy to look back on it as anything other than that.

Alex McLeish deserves to be manager of the year for the masterclass job he’s pulled off this season. I can only see the Blues using this season as springboard for future success in the league.

Care to predict the score?

The draw against Arsenal last weekend was impressive, so it’s hard to predict a win at St Andrews given your current home form. But I’m going to play to role of the eternal optimist and predict our run of good form continues (so long as we play a 4-4-2).

We manage to nick a close one, 2-1.

Cheers,
Russell