A Football Report

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The AFR Team convened once again to talk the footy. This week we were lucky enough to be joined by Brentford FC’s David Hunt as we preview his club’s midweek Carling Cup match against Birmingham City. We also talked about Wayne Rooney, the week that was in the Premier League and the Champions League, Barcelona’s recent membership changes, and the recent dark side of football including racism and hooliganism.

Contributors: Oliver Sparrow (London), Ulysse Pasquier (McGill University), Eric Beard (Emory University), Amy Quinn (Dublin), Darshan Joshi (University of South Wales), Nick Lichtenberg (Brooklyn), Dominic Vieira (Lancaster University)

Special Guest: David Hunt of Brentford FC

Be sure to check out David Hunt’s blog and follow him on Twitter.

What are your thoughts or comments? We’d love to hear them.

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By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

Giant killings are a common story in all walks of footballing life. Few football clubs can say, with conviction, that they have never fallen foul of the ambition and drive that lower-ranked teams can often bring to the fore. Liverpool are no exception, with memorable FA cup exits to the likes of Barnsley and just last year, Reading, and with the spectacular banishment from the Carling Cup just two weeks ago at the hands of Northampton Town barely forgotten. It’s strange, however, that all of this pales in comparison to a desperate defeat in Liverpool’s own back yard yesterday afternoon against Ian Holloway’s Blackpool. The Seasiders now find themselves four points ahead of Liverpool in the Premiership (begging the question, are Liverpool now the underdogs?), and previously seen as relegation fodder, the shoe is now on the other foot for the struggling Reds.

It was particularly telling that late that Sunday, as Liverpool sunk to their lowest point in recent memory, the Kop erupted with chants of “Dalglish!” - referring, of course, to the former Liverpool player and manager, and current Academy director, Kenny Dalglish, who was present at Anfield yesterday with fellow legend Ian Rush, as he is every week. Surely not a pleasant experience for Liverpool’s manager, Roy Hodgson, who has come under fire from all corners of the team’s fanbase, but it represented something crucial. Liverpool fans have forged loving relationships with so many players and leaders down the years. Having adapted to so many different managerial styles, it is surprising that any approach would jar so horribly with the club as Roy’s has so far, but there’s an explanation for that.

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By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

The eve is upon us, and looking around me, I find it inherently strange that there are Liverpool fans with calm heads. No other game gives me quite the same sense of uneasiness, a knot in my stomach. Obviously, it’s a wonderful match to win, but it’s a difficult, if never very surprising, match to lose. Coming from a town and a family that seems to contain representation from both of England’s most successful sides, there will be no shortage of banter tomorrow. My contribution to said banter will be delivered from under some piece of furniture, probably, as I shelter from the fallout.

Somehow, nothing quite stresses me like this fixture. I am never optimistic about our chances, even when there is every reason to be. Most of my childhood was spent only watching these North Lancashire derby ties. Certainly it is a match that raises pulses and sizzles with intensity. Some people enjoy those matches that are like a stretched elastic - bursting with kinetic energy, ready to pop at any given moment. For me, it means constant nausea and near-heart attacks. Yes, I do take football too seriously.

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By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

After the nightmare that 2009’s World Cup qualifying campaign turned out to be for Giovanni Trapattoni’s Boys in Green, you could forgive the Republic of Ireland’s Italian manager for being relieved to see his team collect the highest possible points from their opening games against Armenia and Andorra.

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By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

The Bundesliga this weekend was full of shock results. With champions Bayern Munich losing to newly promoted Kaiserslautern, and Hannover beating last year’s runner-up Schalke. However, few were more surpising than the upset at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg. With only thirty minutes gone the three points seemed to be in the bag for the home team, but Mainz clawed back into the game to leave as 4-3 winners.

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By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

Liverpool were forced to come back from a deficit once again in Turkey, as they recorded only their second ever win in the country against Trabzonspor in the Europa League third round qualifiers.

From the outset, it looked as if Liverpool fans’ week was about to get significantly worse. Pre-match news hadn’t been encouraging, with Gerrard, Torres, Agger, Maxi, Jovanovic and Mascherano all left out due to injury, for rest, or strike action. Hodgson fielded a mixed squad, bolstered by first team regulars Johnson, Carragher, Reina, Lucas, Kuyt and Cole, but with the young Martin Kelly in the tricky left back spot, Aurelio on the left wing and Ngog up front alone. It was raining in Trabzon as the two sides got started, but it couldn’t have begun any better for the local side as a Dirk Kuyt mistake led to Teofilo Guitierrez’s goal which leveled the aggregate score.

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