Wolverhampton Wanderers were this week fined £25,000 by the Premier League for fielding a 'weakened' team against Manchester United in December.

Apparently this falls under E20 of the Premier League rules, what a load of bollocks. It is totally up to Mick McCarthy what team he wants to field and considering the match was a midweek game against the Premier League champions with Wolves prioritising the weekend's game against Burnley, if anything it was a shrewd piece of management.

I'd also like to know what constitutes a 'weakened' team? Should this rule not apply to the League Cup aswell? If that is the case the big clubs would be getting fined left, right and centre.

Back in 2006/07 Liverpool fielded several 'weakened' teams at the end of the campaign in order to prepare for their 2007 Champions League Final, come to think of it didn't Manchester United do exactly the same last season away to Hull? In fact the last game of the 2009 season was a pivotal fixture in the battle for relegation.

Nobody from the Premier League gave a shit when the two big clubs decided to rest players.

Unfortunately, Wolves have been made an example of because they are a 'smaller' club, but in essense they were doing exactly the same as Liverpool and Manchester United.

I'm not sure what this fine aims to achieve in all honesty, does this mean managers cannot use second string players anymore? It stinks.

Link to Man Utd team vs Hull (2009)
Link to Liverpool team vs Portsmouth (2007)

Yes, you've heard it out the mouth of Andy Gray on so many occassions, zonal marking this, zonal marking that. Whenever goals go in against teams using the standard man-to-man system you never hear about the failings of the system.

Whereas if goals are conceded using zonal, it's always the system that is wrong. Arsenal's goal on Wednesday was a classic example, ITV put it down to 'Oh well Porto are marking zonally, which allowed Campbell to score...'.

Brian Reade from the Daily Mirror has a thoughtful take on the matter;

It's funny how the zonal marking debate has gone quiet, mainly because the biggest proponents of it, Liverpool, have conceded one set-piece goal in twelve hours (now over thirteen) of Premier League play.

So I'm amazed that some of those very fair-minded TV pundits, who always like to admit when they're (ahem) wrong, didn't pick up on a classic example in last weekend's Merseyside derby of how useless man-to-man marking is.

Dirk Kuyt stood between Everton keeper Tim Howard and Phil Neville, and both pushed and pulled him, taking their eye off the ball, enabling the Dutchman to react first when it dropped in the box.

Had they been deploying the much-ridiculed zonal marking system, they'd have taken the ball not the man, and the derby would not have been lost.

The point about marking systems is quite simple. It's not the system that's good or bad, it's the players who are playing it.

Liverpool suffered their first league defeat in eight games on Wednesday but it was the worrying lack of creative spark that has been a constant theme throughout the season that will frustrate many Liverpool fans.

Rafa Benitez has made his name through setting up his teams maticulously in order to frustrate the opposition, and to a degree it worked, as it did at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

The problem being; if you do concede, the mentality must change instantly in search of a goal. In these types of games it is vital Liverpool get the first goal, but to do that there must be some kind of threat posed when Liverpool do get forward.

Arsenal are a good side, but again tonight they were there to be shot at. In recent weeks Manchester United and Chelsea have shown how to play Arsenal, play deep and penetrate on the counter attack.

Liverpool tried to match the blueprint but a lack of composure and imagination in the final third left the Reds toothless in attack. The only time this looked otherwise was when Ngog was put through by Gerrard, only to be denied by a great last-ditch challenge by William Gallas.

In truth the Ngog chance was the only moment of the match when Liverpool looked to open the home side up.

The game was crying out for someone like Albert Riera to show abit of craft and guile for the away side. Maxi Rodriguez looked a little off the Premier League pace and it was surprising to see him last the 90 minutes.

When Arsenal did score the hosts seemed anxious to hold onto their lead and retreated somewhat. While Liverpool held much of the possesion in the final moments of the game the Arsenal goal never looked too much under threat, Ryan Babel forced a great save from Manuel Almunia but that was about it.

Saturday's game at Manchester City now becomes huge, a loss will mean City will be three points ahead of Liverpool with two games in hand, it's a position Liverpool can ill-afford to be in.

Saturday's derby victory over Everton was about as pretty as Sotiris Kyriakos' sweat-ridden ponytail.

Nevertheless it was the kind of battling performance that has encaptured Liverpool's recent run and resulted in the return of the clean sheets.

Liverpool's never-say-die attitude, summed up by Dirk Kuyt and the faultless stand-in right back Javier Mascherano, saw them through against an in-form Everton side.

It was a tribute to the newly found definsive solidity that the visitors never looked like breaking down the reds, even with ten men on the pitch.

While Emiliano Insua still looks on edge there is no doubt that the solid foundations that have always cornerstoned Rafa Benitez's reign as Liverpool manager are starting to re-appear.

The zonal-marking of last season was working again. Everton notorious for their ability from set pieces (especially the dangerous Cahill) never got a sniff from dead ball situations. In fact it was Liverpool, not known for their goals from corners, who captilised from a set play.

The second half of last season saw Liverpool play some marvellous football, not least the 4-0 win over Real Madrid, but after this season's horrific start it has been back to basics.

A trait Rafa Benitez often looks for in his signings is work rate, and that has never been more apparent than right now.

Mascherano, Lucas, Kryiakos and Kuyt, all Benitez signings and all grafters in their own right. Right now Liverpool are preferring substance over style and while it may not be pretty, the team are starting to churn out results again.

With Liverpool now in the coverted fourth spot they face two crucial fixtures that could certainly shape the rest of the campaign.

The midweek trip to Arsenal will be tough, that goes without saying, but Liverpool must take heart from the blueprint laid down by Manchester United last weekend. If Liverpool can come out of the two upcoming games (Arsenal(a), Man City(a)) undefeated I think most supporters would believe that fourth place is achievable.

A mate of mine has created a new website in order to raise awareness about the lies The Sun newspaper printed about Liverpool fans in 1989 following the Hillsborough tragedy.

The site's address is as follows; www.dontbuythesun.co.uk

Here is an opening par from the home page;

"A surprising number of people seem unaware of the boycott of The Sun by supporters of Liverpool Football Club. Some don’t seem to know it is boycotted, others don’t know why. Some people rather disturbingly know why the boycott exists but still choose to buy it."

Last Friday (15/1) Mark Lawrenson claimed on the BBC's Friday Focus that Gerard Houllier's team would beat Rafa Benitez's current starting XI.

The rentlentless BBC, who seem determined to stick the knife in Rafa Benitez, mainly the awful Phil McNulty with his thoughtless arguments, have yet again took a swipe.

Anyhow, let's examine the evidence;

Gerard Houllier's strongest XI;

Dudek - After a solid start to his Anfield career his time was littered with errors under Houllier, no more so than the two that provided Diego Forlan with a brace at Anfield in 2003.
Finnan - Signed by Houllier at the same time as Harry Kewell in 2003, Finnan never reached his true potential until the arrival of Benitez in 2004 when he became the model of consistency.
Carragher - Mostly used as a full-back under the Houllier era, Carragher was never the top class centre-half he turned into under the arrival of Rafa.
Hyypia - One of Houllier's best signings and a true Anfield legend.
Riise - Had some good moments under Benitez but certainly in his prime under Houllier, another good signing.
Murphy - His reputation is very much in tact down to his successful spell at Fulham, but Murphy was certainly a player who split opinion during his time at Anfield and many described him not good enough.
Hamann - Another player who will be seen as an impressive Houllier buy but ala. Finnan/Carragher his best performance came under Benitez.
Gerrard - A fantastic player under Houllier who very much carried the team throughout 03/04 but again an improvement was made under Benitez, just look at his goal ratios since Rafa's inception.
Kewell - A player with a big reputation but never delivered, injuries played their part but Kewell never reached his potential.
Heskey - In similar fashion to Murphy it's easy to see Emile's name on the list of Houllier's team and claim 'Oh what a good player he was', in reality he had one productive season at Anfield, by the end of 03/04 he was seen as nowhere near good enough for Liverpool.
Owen - The goalscorer for Houllier's team, he delivered regularly.

Now, let's examine Rafa's strongest XI, minus the players already mentioned above.

Reina - The best keeper in the Premier League, while that is an opinion, there can be no argument he tops Jerzy Dudek.
Johnson - Injuries have restricted Glen Johnson from an extended run in the team but only positives have came from his appearances so far, England's no.1 right-back.
Agger - Again injuries have restricted Daniel Agger's progress but his talent cannot be quenstioned.
Aurelio - When fit Fabio can claim to be one of the best full-backs in the league, his technique is second to none.
Kuyt - In honesty Kuyt has been poor this season but there's no doubt the Dutchman is a goal-threat.
Mascherano - Plucked by Benitez from the wilderness at West Ham, his decision has been vindicated as Masch has proved to be an excellent buy.
Lucas - Still young, Lucas Leiva has a solid and progressive 2009/10, despite the corrupted, media-based opinion of most, Lucas has proved a good player for Liverpool this term.
Riera - Underrated by many, his game against Spurs underlined how much Liverpool have missed the width and trickery of Albert Riera. There's no contest between him and Kewell.
Torres - Words don't really need to be written about Fernando Torres, his goal record says it all. Owen was a great goalscorer for Liverpool but not a patch on the Spaniard.

In summary, there's no doubt Benitez's team overhauls the Houllier era. The players in Gerard's team who have had successful Anfield careers, ie. Finnan, Carragher, Hamann, all had their best moments under Benitez.

The likes of Benayoun, Aquilani, Babel, Skrtel and Maxi Rodriquez aren't even mentioned in the list of Rafa's team, all of whom could claim a place in Houllier's XI.

It's funny how time skews opinion, Mark Lawrenson was no doubt amongst those calling Houllier's team 'not good enough' at the end of 2003/04 that ultimately resulted in the end of the Houllier era.

There are times in football when you have to admit you're team weren't good enough and last night was one of those occasions.

The performance was unacceptable, Liverpool dominated the ball for large periods but in all honesty Reading deserved to go through, they created some fantastic chances and on another night the scoreline could have been much worse.

It seems depressing to say but with Liverpool suffering their 12th defeat of the season, Wednesday's uninspiring performance was not a shock. Countless times this season Liverpool have put in displays that have lacked quality, ambition, creativity, urgency and fluency.

God only knows what new signing, Maxi Rodriguez, was thinking as he watched on from the stands, probably in disgust I would imagine.

The difference from the second half of last season to the first half of this is almost astronomical. Liverpool couldn't stop scoring last season and yet now the team looks devoid of any ideas. To be truthful Liverpool never looked like scoring after Reading's second, Benayoun's chance summed up the night, it was a golden opportunity that lacked any conviction.

It is hard to fathom why things have gone so terribly wrong for Liverpool this season, the team needs the more senior players to step up and take control of games but yet Steven Gerrard, the man who has bailed Liverpool out on so many occasions over the years, looks not even 50 per cent fit and the energy and lung-busting style we are used to seeing seems to have all but disappeared this season.

Inevitably the calls for the manager's head will start ringing again after Wednesday's game but Benitez must be given at the very least till the end of the season to show some turn around in the club's fortunes.