mfaletti

Say what you will about Jaime Carragher's fading skills; I certainly have. But at least when Steven Gerrard's unable to play, Carragher steps into the captaincy with confidence. He'll bark orders and boss his team like a captain should, which is why a lot of people ticket him for a future as a manager. Even if Carragher were out, Mascherano (while he's still at Liverpool) would gladly assume the armband. And if not Mascherano, then Reina. Or even Kuyt.

Liverpool's run of back luck continued on Sunday. One of the world's best keepers clutched and stabbed at the ball but only succeeded in deflecting it back into his own goal. In the 90th minute. After his side had fought valiantly down to 10 -- and sometimes 9 -- men. Throughout the game, Reina had been a steady presence, deflecting the few shots Arsenal managed to put on target with authority. At the other end, Almunia was busy flopping and flapping at corners and generally looking like the kind of mess you'd expect from a player everyone wants to see replaced. Even his coach. If you asked all soccer fans to place the odds of an Almunia own-goal against one from Reina, I doubt even the most ardent Gooner would've plopped a single dollar/pound/euro against Pepe. But here we are.

The Community Shield was a lot more fun this year than last -- higher-scoring, more wide open, and featuring the nifty moves of Javier Hernandez, Man U's newest weapon up front.

As a Liverpool fan who came to the game under Rafa Benitez, I'm waaay too familiar with the 4-2-3-1 formation so commonly used at this year's World Cup. It still pays dividends at the international level, where defenses aren't quite as familiar with each other or their opponents, but it feels like its time has passed at the club level.