I'm a literal sort of person, and it annoys me when things are so stupidly wrong, and yet people still fall for it blindly, and repeat it as though it is a fundamental truth. Like the idea that Liverpool are a two man team, which is a theory so widespread, it's become gospel.
For a start, how can any side be a two man team? You need at least seven to constitute a game under FA rules. And you wouldn't get very far with only two players would you? It'd be a bit one-sided, even if the opponents were as bad as my local pub team.
Getting away from the literal for a second though, it is misleading, and indeed, downright insulting, not to say palpable nonsense to suggest that the only two players Liverpool have are Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Yep, the pair of them are world class, and any team would rather have them in their line up than not. And it's not exactly rocket science to work out that if you took two of the best players in the world out of the line-up, then it would be diminished somewhat. That though, is a truism that applies to every single other team in the world.
But even a cursory look at the rest of Rafael Benitez's first choice side tells you that they are hardly a two man outfit. For a start, Liverpool have the captain of Argentina, one of the most powerful footballing nations in the world, at the heart of their midfield.
Javier Mascherano has played for his country since he was 19 years old, and already has 55 caps, so he's hardly a duffer. He has been the one constant in the maelstrom of Diego Maradona's regime, and has shown world-class leadership for his nation at a crucial time, taking them into a World Cup spot in qualifying, against the odds.
Then there is Pepe Reina. As a goalkeeper, there is no doubt he is amongst the top three or four in the world, and arguably on his day - even set against the competing claims of his countryman Iker Casillas - is the best. Put it this way, he would walk into the England team right now.
Jamie Carragher has been the most consistent defender in the Premier League over the past five years, and that includes John Terry. Even Jose Mourinho once said he sometimes wished he could have a team of Carraghers.
Ok, he's had his difficulties this season, but that is as much because of the different tactical emphasis Liverpool have employed so far, as any failings on his part. Ask any manager in England, and he would be on their team-sheet. Still.
Dirk Kuyt has 56 caps for Holland, again one of the finest footballing nations on the planet, and anyone watching them play will see just how important he is to their line up.
When Kuyt went off at half time during the European Championship quarter final against Russia, his country's chances of reaching the semis went with him. His energy and positional intelligence is almost unmatched in the Premier League, which makes him a unique player.
Glen Johnson is the best right back in England, and one of the most exciting players in that position the Premier League has seen. Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel are regarded as two of the most promising young centre halves in Europe. Even young left back Emiliano Insua has just won his first Argentina cap.
Don't forget too, that last season, Liverpool won at Chelsea without Torres, drew at Arsenal without him, and beat Manchester United at Anfield with him and Gerrard on the bench. In the Champions' League, they managed a 4-4 draw at Chelsea without their skipper, too.
It is just lazy to say that Liverpool are a two man team, because the reality is, they have a perfectly respectable first XI, with many of their players coveted by other top sides. They have a team capable of challenging the best, evidence of which came last season, when they beat Chelsea and United home and away in the league.
But the problem at Anfield isn't the quality of the side, rather it is the depth of the squad. They are not a two-man team, but they are not far short of being a one-team club, which these days is a fatal flaw for any side harboring genuine title aspirations.
Liverpool don't really have any quality cover at goalkeeper, right back, right wing or left wing, and little depth to their forward line or in even central defence, given Agger's tendency towards injury. Presently, they don't have any back up in central midfield either, with summer signing Alberto Aquilani still to recover from the injury he arrived with.
That is their weakness, and it is a fundamental one. If they don't win the league this season - and from the first kick, I have suggested they will need a fair bit of luck with injuries to do so - it will be because they don't have the depth of cover in their squad to compete over the grueling length of a Premier League campaign.
It is not for the want of trying. If you include the many youngsters he has brought in to bolster the youth structure, in his five and a half years at Anfield, Rafa Benitez has signed close on 100 players for Liverpool, at a net outlay (that is, money spent minus money raised) of figures quoted variously between £90m and £125m, with perhaps the most accurate assessment being offered in The Times recently, of £111.39million.
You might have to rub your eyes at this point, but these figures really are correct. The Spanish coach has tried incredibly hard to wheel and deal to generate the funds to increase quality, and if you look at the team he inherited in 2005, there is no doubt he has done that. There is no comparison between the squad he took over and the one he has produced now. Just take a look at the pictures of the celebrations after the Champions' League final to confirm that.
The money he has spent sounds a lot, but actually, it amounts to an outlay of less than £20million a season, which buys you one decent player a year...unless that player happens to be a Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo, of course.
When you consider there are just two players left at Anfield now from the day the manager walked in the door back in 2005, that isn't a great deal of money to bring in close on 30 players capable of hacking it at the top level. Especially when the squad he was left by Gerard Houllier generated very little in terms of revenue.
It has been a tricky situation, not made any easier by the debt problems at Anfield which required the manager to effectively sell before he could buy in the summer, destroying in the process the his hopes of again adding more depth to the squad he has so carefully been constructing over the past five years.
It is these circumstances which prompt Benitez, in more reflective moments, to quietly admit that he feels he still doesn't have the depth to his squad he would like, even if he's not exactly about to broadcast that fact on the nine o'clock news.
Any sustained period of Injuries will devastate Liverpool's campaign this season, and that doesn't mean just to Gerrard and Torres, either. Both those players were on the pitch in Florence, when the absence of Mascherano meant Benitez was forced to give full back Fabio Aurelio only his second start of the season....in central midfield.
That sums up the headache Benitez has to face in juggling his resources to try and mount a convincing title campaign. When you consider, both United and Chelsea can comfortably field two teams that would challenge in the top four of the Premier League, then he's going to have to be pretty good at keeping the balls in the air.
But let's get this straight, it's not because Liverpool are a two-man team. That is just lazy, join the dots thinking. And it is annoying. Just like those bloody meerkats.
For a start, how can any side be a two man team? You need at least seven to constitute a game under FA rules. And you wouldn't get very far with only two players would you? It'd be a bit one-sided, even if the opponents were as bad as my local pub team.
Getting away from the literal for a second though, it is misleading, and indeed, downright insulting, not to say palpable nonsense to suggest that the only two players Liverpool have are Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Yep, the pair of them are world class, and any team would rather have them in their line up than not. And it's not exactly rocket science to work out that if you took two of the best players in the world out of the line-up, then it would be diminished somewhat. That though, is a truism that applies to every single other team in the world.
But even a cursory look at the rest of Rafael Benitez's first choice side tells you that they are hardly a two man outfit. For a start, Liverpool have the captain of Argentina, one of the most powerful footballing nations in the world, at the heart of their midfield.
Javier Mascherano has played for his country since he was 19 years old, and already has 55 caps, so he's hardly a duffer. He has been the one constant in the maelstrom of Diego Maradona's regime, and has shown world-class leadership for his nation at a crucial time, taking them into a World Cup spot in qualifying, against the odds.
Then there is Pepe Reina. As a goalkeeper, there is no doubt he is amongst the top three or four in the world, and arguably on his day - even set against the competing claims of his countryman Iker Casillas - is the best. Put it this way, he would walk into the England team right now.
Jamie Carragher has been the most consistent defender in the Premier League over the past five years, and that includes John Terry. Even Jose Mourinho once said he sometimes wished he could have a team of Carraghers.
Ok, he's had his difficulties this season, but that is as much because of the different tactical emphasis Liverpool have employed so far, as any failings on his part. Ask any manager in England, and he would be on their team-sheet. Still.
Dirk Kuyt has 56 caps for Holland, again one of the finest footballing nations on the planet, and anyone watching them play will see just how important he is to their line up.
When Kuyt went off at half time during the European Championship quarter final against Russia, his country's chances of reaching the semis went with him. His energy and positional intelligence is almost unmatched in the Premier League, which makes him a unique player.
Glen Johnson is the best right back in England, and one of the most exciting players in that position the Premier League has seen. Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel are regarded as two of the most promising young centre halves in Europe. Even young left back Emiliano Insua has just won his first Argentina cap.
Don't forget too, that last season, Liverpool won at Chelsea without Torres, drew at Arsenal without him, and beat Manchester United at Anfield with him and Gerrard on the bench. In the Champions' League, they managed a 4-4 draw at Chelsea without their skipper, too.
It is just lazy to say that Liverpool are a two man team, because the reality is, they have a perfectly respectable first XI, with many of their players coveted by other top sides. They have a team capable of challenging the best, evidence of which came last season, when they beat Chelsea and United home and away in the league.
But the problem at Anfield isn't the quality of the side, rather it is the depth of the squad. They are not a two-man team, but they are not far short of being a one-team club, which these days is a fatal flaw for any side harboring genuine title aspirations.
Liverpool don't really have any quality cover at goalkeeper, right back, right wing or left wing, and little depth to their forward line or in even central defence, given Agger's tendency towards injury. Presently, they don't have any back up in central midfield either, with summer signing Alberto Aquilani still to recover from the injury he arrived with.
That is their weakness, and it is a fundamental one. If they don't win the league this season - and from the first kick, I have suggested they will need a fair bit of luck with injuries to do so - it will be because they don't have the depth of cover in their squad to compete over the grueling length of a Premier League campaign.
It is not for the want of trying. If you include the many youngsters he has brought in to bolster the youth structure, in his five and a half years at Anfield, Rafa Benitez has signed close on 100 players for Liverpool, at a net outlay (that is, money spent minus money raised) of figures quoted variously between £90m and £125m, with perhaps the most accurate assessment being offered in The Times recently, of £111.39million.
You might have to rub your eyes at this point, but these figures really are correct. The Spanish coach has tried incredibly hard to wheel and deal to generate the funds to increase quality, and if you look at the team he inherited in 2005, there is no doubt he has done that. There is no comparison between the squad he took over and the one he has produced now. Just take a look at the pictures of the celebrations after the Champions' League final to confirm that.
The money he has spent sounds a lot, but actually, it amounts to an outlay of less than £20million a season, which buys you one decent player a year...unless that player happens to be a Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo, of course.
When you consider there are just two players left at Anfield now from the day the manager walked in the door back in 2005, that isn't a great deal of money to bring in close on 30 players capable of hacking it at the top level. Especially when the squad he was left by Gerard Houllier generated very little in terms of revenue.
It has been a tricky situation, not made any easier by the debt problems at Anfield which required the manager to effectively sell before he could buy in the summer, destroying in the process the his hopes of again adding more depth to the squad he has so carefully been constructing over the past five years.
It is these circumstances which prompt Benitez, in more reflective moments, to quietly admit that he feels he still doesn't have the depth to his squad he would like, even if he's not exactly about to broadcast that fact on the nine o'clock news.
Any sustained period of Injuries will devastate Liverpool's campaign this season, and that doesn't mean just to Gerrard and Torres, either. Both those players were on the pitch in Florence, when the absence of Mascherano meant Benitez was forced to give full back Fabio Aurelio only his second start of the season....in central midfield.
That sums up the headache Benitez has to face in juggling his resources to try and mount a convincing title campaign. When you consider, both United and Chelsea can comfortably field two teams that would challenge in the top four of the Premier League, then he's going to have to be pretty good at keeping the balls in the air.
But let's get this straight, it's not because Liverpool are a two-man team. That is just lazy, join the dots thinking. And it is annoying. Just like those bloody meerkats.
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