Digger Barnes on SoccerAM this morning. Asked are players fitter now than in his day: "Yes, I see Wayne Rooney run the length of the pitch to cross the ball, keeper catches it, kicks it down the other end, Rooney runs all the way back to his own box, gives away a free kick and still has the energy to complin to the ref" Asked why he tried to beat players at the end of the title decider against Arsenal at Anfield instead of running down the clock and taking the ball into the corner: "I was heading for the corner when I went past one player and had another one in front of me. I looked up and saw it was Kevin Richardson. So I thought "its only Kevin Richardson..." Gas man
Yep, same as. Dont think I have watched it this season, very little last season. Its went very downhill since Lovejoy left.
It's rapidly gone down hill since Lovejoy & Fenners left. I used to watch it every week with those two on it, but its run its course & should be canceled i think.
Digger talking to Sly Sports You were at Anfield on Wednesday night. What went wrong with Liverpool against Chelsea? Nothing went wrong in the first 25 minutes because we went 1-0 up and we were playing really well. It looked as if we were going to go on and score two or three goals. Liverpool were really impressive and Chelsea just couldn't get hold of the ball. But then they scored a goal, not exactly against the run of play, but it shouldn't have happened from a set piece. You could see the confidence drain out of Liverpool and they conceded the second goal in the same manner. It gave Chelsea heart and hope and they were very impressive in the second half. They kept the ball well, moved it well and they deserved their victory. Did Liverpool score too early? Well they scored in the first few minutes and continued to dominate and create chances. I don't think it was a question of scoring too early, it was a question of conceding a needless goal. After playing well for 25 minutes, to concede in that manner really hit them hard. Chelsea are a great side with quality players, but that away goal gave them the heart and the impetus. You mentioned that two of Chelsea's goals came from set pieces, do you think the zonal marking system employed by Rafa Benitez was the problem? The issue is not zonal marking, the issue is that they did not attack the ball. A lot of teams mark zonally and a lot of teams who mark man-for-man concede goals from corners also. But when you mark zonally you have to attack the ball and Liverpool didn't do that. Whenever you concede from set pieces you have to be disappointed because they had enough men back there. It was a disappointing way to concede and it really affected the flow of the game. Liverpool have been in great form over the last few weeks but Chelsea seemed to get a lot of success by nullifying the threat of Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard, do you think this is the way to stop them? More so Steven Gerrard. I think putting Michael Essien on him was a masterstroke because all the creativity comes from him. Essien is a fantastic player and he didn't give Gerrard any room or time - so you were looking to the other Liverpool players to create something. As much as Torres is a great player, he does need some service. A lot of people say if you stop Gerrard then you stop Liverpool, but sometimes that's not the case. A player of your stature will have experienced being man-marked? How did you used to deal with it? Sometimes you are man marked and you do nothing in a game. That happens. You just try and move into different positions to take your marker out of the game, as Gerrard did on Wednesday. But when I was man marked we had a couple of other players with creativity - so if I was man marked then Liverpool could still win. In the current Liverpool team, Gerrard is the main creator and people think if you stop him, you stop Liverpool. It happened to work against Chelsea, but it doesn't always work. The last time Liverpool scored more than three goals at Stamford Bridge was in 1989 when I believe you were playing. Do you remember the game? I can't really remember that game, but I'm sure I was playing in it! But I couldn't remember the last time Liverpool scored four at old Trafford either - and that happened this season. I believe Liverpool can score three at Stamford Bridge - if Chelsea can score three at Anfield then so can they. Chelsea are in the driving seat, they are the favourites to go through, but Liverpool have to believe they can go there and do to them what Chelsea did to Liverpool. How will Wednesday's result affect Liverpool's ambitions to win the Premier League? I don't think it will deflate them. In the past Liverpool have put all of their eggs in one basket by really concentrating on the Champions League. That's why they've done well in that competition and maybe the fact that they've done so well in the league meant that they faltered a bit in the Champions League. What Liverpool have to do now is show some consistency and that means doing well in the league. While they will be disappointed if they do go out against Chelsea, I believe they will have had a better season than they've had in the last 19 years. That's because, even if they don't win the league, they've come very close to it. Next up for them is the league game against Blackburn on Saturday? Will Benitez be looking to rest players, ahead of the second leg against Chelsea, or will his eyes be firmly set on the title race now? He won't rest players. They are fighting on both fronts and their priority is to do as well in the seven, eight, nine games that they have left this season. I don't think now is a time to prioritise or to rest players in any particular game. How do you think Blackburn will approach the game? Will Sam Allardyce be looking to exploit Liverpool's perceived weakness from corners? That's what Sam Allardyce teams do all of the time, they concentrate on set pieces. I don't believe that he is going to change his game plan because they lost against Chelsea - and if they'd beaten Chelsea 3-0 he wouldn't have changed his game plan then either. Blackburn are fighting for their lives and will come to battle. I don't believe they will open themselves up or leave Liverpool as much space as Fulham, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Aston Villa did. Blackburn will play as they always do under Allardyce. As it is the early kick-off, if Liverpool take all three points they will go top again putting pressure on Man Utd, but do you think they will win the title this season? They will do very well in all of the remaining games, but I don't know whether Manchester United will do well in their games. As much as Liverpool fans are going to say they can win the title, it all depends on whether Manchester United win their games. I can see Liverpool taking a lot of points in the last seven games, but whether that's going to be enough I don't know. Liverpool are going to be consistent, but I can't speak for Manchester United. Obviously they are the favourites, but Liverpool are moving forwards and the future looks good. The 2011 Champions League final will be held at Wembley, do you think English clubs will continue to dominate the competition up to then as they have done in the last few years? In football you don't want to look forward any further than the next game. Depending on what happens this year and next year, that will determine how 2011 goes. I haven't got a clue what's going to happen! The way Barcelona are playing, you could say they are going to dominate European football for the next 10 years, but it may not happen. I can't look as far as 2011! You've been hosting the Legends Tour at Wembley Stadium, what is your greatest memory of playing there? I've been in three FA Cup finals and won one, so I've had many unhappy memories as well as happy ones. I played there many times for England too, but this is the home of football. Wembley is synonymous with England and also with FA Cup Finals. I remember Coventry winning the Cup, that famous Gazza injury... it's just an iconic stadium with lots of poignant memories for everyone concerned. Well said Digger. Whelan, Houghton, McManaman et al could learn a thing or two from Barnes, Hansen & the King.
Nice to hear plenty of 'we' and less of the bitterness other 'legends' spout when we have a bad game.