2007–08 Liverpool F.C. season
 | This article documents a current sporting event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports, scores, or statistics may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
| 2007–08 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Tom Hicks & George Gillett |
| Manager |  Rafael Benítez |
| Premier League | 4th |
| FA Cup | Third round |
| Carling Cup | Quarter-finals |
| UEFA Champions League | First knockout round |
| Top goalscorer | League: Fernando Torres (11) All: Fernando Torres (17) |
| Highest home attendance | 44,459 v Manchester United (16 December 2007) |
| Lowest home attendance | 41,095 v Porto (28 November 2007) |
The 2007–08 season is the 115th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and is their 45th consecutive year in the top-flight. Having finished third the previous season, Liverpool had qualified for the UEFA Champions League final qualifying stage.
Team kit
The team kit for the season was produced by adidas and the shirt sponsor is Carlsberg.
       Home[1] |
   Away[2] |
   Third/Euro Away[3] |
Regular season
August
Liverpool kicked off their Premier League season with a trip to Aston Villa, which they won 2–1 thanks to a spectacular free-kick from Reds' skipper Steven Gerrard. This was quickly followed by a midweek encounter, the first leg of the Champions League qualifier, at Toulouse. The game, unusually played on a weekday afternoon, was won 1–0 by Liverpool, with Andriy Voronin scoring to give the Reds a lead to take back to Anfield.[1]
Next came the home opener: a Premier League game against Chelsea. Liverpool took a lead through Fernando Torres's first goal for the club, but Chelsea hit back with a penalty, which was disputed by Liverpool, ending the game 1–1.[2] Referee Rob Styles appeared to book Michael Essien twice without sending him off, similar to Graham Poll at the 2006 World Cup.[3] Mr Styles later admitted to have made an incorrect decision to award the penalty and, unusually, apologised to Liverpool for his mistake. He was subsequently dropped for the next gameweek.[4]
The third game of the league season, a 2–0 away win at Sunderland, was notable for Momo Sissoko's first Liverpool goal, after more than two years. This was also the Reds' 7,000th goal in League football. Andriy Voronin scored the second goal late on in the game.[5] The following Tuesday saw Liverpool play Toulouse at Anfield, in the second leg of their Champions League qualifying tie. Before kick-off, the Everton song 'Z Cars' echoed around Anfield, in memory of 11 year-old Rhys Jones, a local boy who had been shot dead the previous week. The game finished 4–0 to Liverpool, and the team thereby qualifed for the group stage courtesy of a 5–0 aggregate scoreline over both legs.[6]
September
Liverpool won their first game of September against Derby 6–0.[7] This was Liverpool's biggest league win since April 2003, when they beat West Brom by the same scoreline,[citation needed] and took them to the top of the Premier League table.
After a two-week international break, Liverpool's next league game of the season was away to Portsmouth. The match ended in a 0–0 draw, after Pepe Reina saved Nwankwo Kanu's penalty kick.[8] The following week, the home league game against Birmingham, ended in a similar goalless scoreline.
In between those two league draws Liverpool travelled to F.C. Porto, to begin their Champions League Group A campaign against another team that had previously won the competition. The game, which ended 1–1, saw Jermaine Pennant sent off after receiving two yellow cards.[9]
Liverpool got back on a winning track when they travelled to Reading for a League Cup third round tie. Liverpool beat their hosts 4–2, with Fernando Torres scoring his first hat-trick for the club.[10] This was followed up with a league success, away to Wigan at the JJB Stadium, where Yossi Benayoun's 75th minute strike — his second in two games — was enough to secure three points.[11]
October
October's first fixture was the visit of Marseille, Liverpool's second Champions League group stage match. A spectacular individual goal from Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena handed Liverpool a 0–1 loss, their first of the season. Disappointed Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez described the match as possibly the worst performance by the club under his management.[12]
Liverpool remained at Anfield for their following game, the league visit of Tottenham. A last-minute, injury-time, equaliser by Fernando Torres earned the team a 2–2 draw to preserve their unbeaten league record.[13] However, Liverpool bounced back to win the away derby to their fiercest rivals, Everton. The match at Goodison Park was a contentious game, with the referee's performance heavily criticised by Everton manager David Moyes but the 2–1 scoreline gave all three points to Liverpool.[citation needed]
The third of Liverpool's Champions League group games was a trip to Istanbul, the city where they had famously won the trophy in 2005.[citation needed] However, on this occasion Liverpool fans had little to celebrate as their hosts Besiktas dealt their side's chances of progressing in the competition a serious blow by winning 2–1.[14] The highest seeded team in their group, Liverpool were now bottom of their quartet with only a point from their first three qualifying games.[citation needed]
Liverpool finished the month with a pair of home fixtures. The league visit of Arsenal finished all square at 1–1[citation needed], whilst the League Cup visit of Cardiff City, who featured Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler in their line-up, gave the Reds a 2–1 win and Nabil El Zhar his debut goal for the club.[citation needed]
November
Liverpool began the month of November with a 0–0 draw away to Blackburn Rovers, further extending their unbeaten run in the league.[citation needed] They followed this by finally injecting life into their Champions League campaign with an emphatic 8–0 victory over Beşiktaş J.K. at home.[citation needed] A hat-trick from Yossi Benayoun, a goal from captain Steven Gerrard and two each from both Ryan Babel and Peter Crouch gave Liverpool fans something to celebrate as Liverpool established a new record for margin of victory in a Champions League match. The previous best, of 7–0, had been held jointly by Arsenal and Juventus.[15]
On the 10th of November, the Champions League win was followed up with a Premier League one, as Liverpool beat Fulham 2–0 at Anfield. Fernando Torres came off the bench to break the deadlock in the 81st minute, and Steven Gerrard scored a penalty won by Peter Crouch four minutes later to seal the victory.[16]
After another international break, the team's thirteenth league game, on 24 November at Newcastle, brought bad fortune to their hosts. Steven Gerrard, who had been booed by the Newcastle fans for his part in England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008, opened the scoring for the Reds and two more goals from Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel gave Liverpool a 3–0 win.[citation needed]
The team ended the month by hosting their penultimate Champions League group game, the must-win visit of F.C. Porto. Liverpool won 4–1 and, as Fernando Torres scored the first two Champions League goals of his career, club captain Steven Gerrard set a personal milestone of his own by equalling Michael Owen's club record of 22 goals in the Champions League.[citation needed]
December
The club kicked off a busy month by registering a 4–0 league win against Bolton Wanderers at Anfield.[citation needed] This win stretched Liverpool's winning streak to five games, during which they scored 21 goals and conceded just one, and continued their unbeaten league run.[citation needed]
However, this unbeaten start to the league season was cut short the following week, when the visit to Reading resulted in an unexpected 3–1 defeat. After the hosts converted a penalty for a challenge that television replays showed had occurred outside the box, Steven Gerrard equalised for Liverpool before two second-half goals from Reading handed Liverpool their first league loss of the season.[citation needed]
Three days later, yet again needing a win to guarantee their survival in the competition, Liverpool travelled to Marseille for their final Champions League Group A fixture. Marseille had previously hosted English teams in Europe on six occasions and won all six times,[citation needed] and only needed a draw to progress themselves. However the team registered their second 4–0 win of the month to finish second in their group and progress to the competition's final sixteen phase.[citation needed]
On Sunday, 16th December, Liverpool hosted their fierce rivals Manchester United in a vital Premier League match. The match ended with a 1-0 victory for Manchester United their 4th win in their last 5 league visits to Anfield, giving the latter a nine point lead over Liverpool in the Premier League table. The only goal was scored by Carlos Tévez. Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 later in the day to give themselves a ten point lead over Liverpool at the top of the premiership.
Liverpool travelled to Chelsea for their Carling Cup quarter-final on Wednesday 19th December. They were beaten 2-0 through a deflected goal from Frank Lampard and an injury-time goal from Andriy Shevchenko. Peter Crouch was sent off for the Reds after a two-footed tackle on Mikel John Obi.
Three days before Christmas, Liverpool hosted Portsmouth looking to get their Premier League campaign back on track after two successive defeats. Liverpool continued a record of remaining undefeated at Anfield against Pompey since 1951, by triumphing 4-1. Fernando Torres scored twice to continue his good run of scoring, while the other goals came from Yossi Benayoun and an own goal, which was scored by Sylvain Distin. On the Boxing Day fixture, Liverpool managed a 2-1 victory over Derby, with goals from Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard respectively, before playing out a goalless draw at the City of Manchester Stadium in their final game of 2007.
January
Liverpool's first game of 2008 was a home game against Wigan Athletic which ended in a 1-1 draw.[citation needed] This was followed by their first FA Cup game of the season, the third round tie against Luton Town which also finished 1-1.[citation needed] Martin Škrtel was the first signing by Liverpool in the January Transfer Window. The undisclosed fee was rumoured to be £6.5m which would be the highest amount payed by the club for a defender.
First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Transfers
In
| # | Player | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Fernando Torres |
Atlético Madrid | £21.5 million [[4]] |
| 10 |  Andriy Voronin |
Bayer Leverkusen | Free |
| 11 |  Yossi Benayoun |
West Ham United | £4.0 million |
| 19 |  Ryan Babel |
Ajax | £11.5 million |
| 21 |  Lucas |
Gremio | £6.0 million |
| 26 |  Scott Carson |
Charlton Athletic | Loan return |
| 30 |  Charles Itandje |
Lens | £1.4 million |
| 33 |  Sebastian Leto |
Lanus | £1.8 million |
| 34 | Jay Spearing |
Youth | |
| 35 | Ray Putterill |
Youth | |
| 37 |  Martin Škrtel |
Zenit Saint Petersburg | £6.5 million |
Out
| # | Player | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jerzy Dudek |
Real Madrid | Released |
| 9 | Robbie Fowler |
Cardiff City | Released |
| 10 | Luis Garcia |
Atlético Madrid | £4million |
| 11 |  Mark González |
Real Betis | £1.5million |
| 17 |  Craig Bellamy |
West Ham United | £7.5million |
| Djibril Cisse |
Marsielle | £9million | |
| 29 | Gabriel Paletta |
Boca Juniors | Undisclosed |
| 30 |  Daniele Padelli |
Sampdoria | Loan return |
| 32 | Boudewijn Zenden |
Marseille | Released |
| Paul Barratt |
Worcester City | Released | |
| David Roberts |
Bangor City | Released | |
| Florent Sinama-Pongolle |
Recreativo de Huelva | £2.7million | |
| 45 | James Smith |
Stockport County | Free Transfer |
 Jimmy Ryan |
Shrewsbury Town | Free Transfer |
Loaned out
| # | Player | To | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26[17] | Paul Anderson |
Swansea City | Season[18] |
| 26[17] | Scott Carson |
Aston Villa | Season[19] |
| 34 | Miki Roque |
Xerez | Season[20] |
| 35 | Danny Guthrie |
Bolton Wanderers | Season[21] |
| 36 | Adam Hammill |
Southampton | Season[22] |
| 37[23] | Lee Peltier |
Yeovil Town | August to December[24] |
| 38 | Craig Lindfield |
Notts County | November[25] |
| 41 |  Besian Idrizaj |
Crystal Palace | Season[26] |
| 44 | Robbie Threlfall |
Hereford United | November to January[27] |
| 45 | James Smith |
Stockport County | August to November |
| Godwin Antwi |
Hartlepool United | Season[28] | |
 Nikolay Mihaylov |
FC Twente | Season[29] | |
| Jimmy Ryan |
Shrewsbury Town | August to October[30] | |
| Anthony Le Tallec |
Le Mans Union Club 72 | Season[31] |
Reserves and youth
After the departure of Steve Heighway, Dutchman Piet Hamberg came in to run the academy. As well as some changes to background personnel, the reserve and youth sides were bolstered by several new players - András Simon, Krisztián Németh and Péter Gulásci from Hungary, Mikel San Jose, Gerado Bruna (Real Madrid) Dani Pacheco (Barcelona) and Daniel Sanchez Ayala from Spain, Dean Bouzanis from Australia, Marvin Pourie from Germany, Nikolay Mihaylov from Bulgaria, Alexander Kacaniklic joined January signing Astrit Ajdarevic from Sweden, Damien Plessis (Lyon) from France, Gary Mackay Steven and Alex Cooper from Scotland, and Englishmen Ryan Crowther and David Amoo.
Records
- Mohamed Sissoko's goal against Sunderland was not only his first goal for the club but also Liverpool's 7000 league goal.[citation needed]
- The 6–0 defeat of Derby was the first time Liverpool had scored 6 in the League since April 2003 in a 6-0 win of West Brom.[citation needed]
- The 8–0 victory over Besiktas was the biggest ever win in the Champions League surpassing two previous 7-0 victories, by Juventus and Arsenal.[citation needed]
- The 4-0 win over Marseille was Liverpool's biggest away win in the Champions League Proper (excluding Qualifying Rounds).
Notes and references
- ^ "VORONIN SHOOTS DOWN TOULOUSE". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "LIVERPOOL 1-1 CHELSEA". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "Rob Styles official fiasco". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "Rob Styles official fiasco". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "Sunderland away match analysis". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "Toulouse second leg". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ Bevan, Chris (2007-09-01). "Liverpool 6-0 Derby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ McNulty, Phil (2007-09-22). "Portsmouth 0-0 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sinnott, Joe (2007-09-18). "Porto 1-1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ McKenzie, Andrew (2007-09-25). "Reading 2-4 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Soneji, Pranav (2007-09-27). "Wigan 0-1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Reds display frustrates Benitez". BBC Sport. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sinnott, John (2007-10-07). "Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Champions League round-up". British Sky Broadcasting. 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Liverpool revived by record triumph Uefa.com
- ^ Liverpool 2-0 Fulham bbc.co.uk
- ^ a b Paul Anderson had worn #26 during 2006–07, but after he was loaned out to Swansea, Scott Carson took over the number. Carson was then loaned out to Aston Villa
- ^ "Anderson completes Anfield switch". swanseacity.premiumtv.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
- ^ "Itandje arrives as Carson leaves on loan". liverpoolfc.tv. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ "Youth arrives from Liverpool". xerezcd.com. 2007-08-04. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Trotters secure Guthrie loan". itv.com. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
- ^ "Liverpool winger loaned to Saints". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
- ^ Lee Peltier was announced as holding the #37 shirt during 2007–08 closed season, but after he was loaned out to Yeovil, Martin Škrtel took over the number in January 2008 when he arrived from FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.
- ^ "Yeovil sign Liverpool man on loan". news.bbc.co.uk. 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Johnson added to Magpies backroom". news.bbc.co.uk. 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Palace Sign Reds Striker". cpfc.premiumtv.co.uk. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N157542071101-1715.htm
- ^ "Hartlepool sign Liverpool's Antwi". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ "FC Twente lends Bulgarian keeper". fctwente.nl. 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Shrews secure Ryan extension". sportinglife.com. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Nade completes switch to Hearts". news.bbc.co.uk. 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)