Too early to get carried away

Sep 7 2007 Fanscene by Sam Johnstone

IT’S been very hard this week not to get carried away. The Derby game featured a superb performance, six goals and a few party trick – and all without Stevie and Carra!

The feeling that we really are on the march this season is palpable in the city, but the biggest surprise is that we are being talked about nationally as potential champions.

It’s great being top of the league for the first time in five years, but it’s still very, very early in the campaign.

I’ll celebrate that victory against Derby, but what’s more important is the Portsmouth match.

We’ve got a few hard games coming up over the next couple of months, and it’s these that will decide if we are good enough.

With all due respect to Derby County, we were expected to beat them fairly well, but it’s great to see the team living up to expectations.

With the skipper and his vice-captain out of the side it was a huge test to see if we could maintain our good early season form, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the way the team has played without them.

That said, I’d want Stevie and Carra back as soon as possible, and I hope that if Stevie plays for England tomorrow he is fit enough to do so without the aid of pain-numbing injections.

The club versus country debate has raged on again this week, but I believe that the majority of Reds are behind Rafa on this one.

The manager has taken some criticism this week, and has even been called a hypocrite for playing Gerrard in the Chelsea game, but surely it’s up to him if he does that.

As far as I’m concerned playing for your country is a representative match, and the club should have full say on whether they believe a player is fit enough.

I genuinely couldn’t care less if England qualify for the European Championships, but I’m aware that Stevie wants to play so good luck to them.

It strikes me that Steve McLaren is clutching at straws somewhat; it’s a ready-made excuse if Rafa doesn’t want Stevie to play and England lose against Israel, but what isn’t being discussed is England’s slide down the rankings and the poor performances under McLaren so far.

If England don’t qualify, it won’t be because Rafa wouldn’t allow a player to be in the team, it will be due to the awful quality we have endured under the current regime.

Or maybe it’s just because England are not as good as they think they are?

Whatever the reason, I think you have to look at the national manager’s judgement.

How he could pick David Bentley (a talented player, yes, but someone who let England down badly at the start of the summer) over Jermaine Pennant (who is perhaps Liverpool’s strongest performer over the past six months) is beyond me. This may sound hypocritical knowing my feelings on the national team, but I believe it goes a long way to proving how inadequate the management of England is at the moment.

I am going to make a point of watching the Derby highlights again when England are playing, because for me the club always comes first.