Journalist, admirer of Fabio Aurelio, Jari Litmanen, those kind of lads.
by Steve Graves // 11 April 2013
Forget silences, flowers and front pages. They’ll last a minute, a week, a news cycle. The policies, the ideas, the acts – many will live longer. Mining communities won’t return, while large-scale renationalisation (except of our brave financiers) seems a … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 22 January 2013
ATMOSPHERE is one of the trickiest, most slippery concepts in football. It’s at once fundamental to the game’s success and appeal, while all the while being threatened by its global reach. It’s subjective, your perception essentially pivoting on whether you … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 7 January 2013
WHEN Daniel Sturridge passed his debut Liverpool goal in to Mansfield’s net, he did his best to look nonchalant. Perhaps aware that putting one past a non-league side wasn’t the kind of thing Real Proper Strikers Who Play Through the … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 19 November 2012
Statistics should, on the face of things, offer neutrality. Start with the facts, you would have thought, and logical conclusions will follow. The seemingly undefinable can be codified, explained, nicely tucked away in tables. Are Liverpool good at football? A … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 2 November 2012
Grim is the word. Liverpool-Swansea was grim. Unrelentingly, teeth-grindingly, appallingly grim. There was, this time, no leeway to claim the opposition were too direct or the officials blinkered. It was a simply, starkly, awful performance. The shambling figures on the … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 12 October 2012
Football, we’re often told, has a morality problem. Players dive (if foreign) and go to ground too easily (if English). Players (foreign) wave imaginary cards. Fans sing offensive songs, abuse referees, name rape victims on social networks. God, everybody’s on … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 3 October 2012
When Brendan Rodgers joined Liverpool most fans were impressed by the vision he laid out for the club in his early press conferences. The emphasis on possession, tactical awareness, positive yet responsible football. The talk of hard work bringing rewards, … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 20 September 2012
LIKE many people, I really enjoyed Channel Four News chief correspondent Alex Thomson’s doorstepping of Kelvin MacKenzie. It made for great TV. Who could fail to be amused by the sight of a man once among the most powerful in … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 22 August 2012
CONFIDENTIAL BBC STAFF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Department: Sport Full name: Lawrenson, Mark Thomas ‘Lawro’ Role: Pundit. Co-commentator. PART ONE – TO BE COMPLETED BY EMPLOYEE State your understanding of your main duties and responsibilities: People said be the voice of the … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 19 August 2012
“It’s just as well that I’ve seen the team give an off-form display in my first match. I’ve learned quite a few things this way.” Bill Shankly, reflecting on his new club’s 4-0 home defeat to Cardiff City, certainly sounds … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 17 August 2012
With just a few sweaty, feverish hours left till the sparkly new Liverpool are unleashed on the football world in a fiesta of passing, movement and ultimate disappointment, the final Anfield Wrap predictions are in. Just three this time, but … Continue reading
by Steve Graves // 15 August 2012
Three days! Just three days till real football’s back! You can try as hard as you like to be all insouciant and calculated and bang on about the Olympics and everything but let’s all just get giddy and celebrate the … Continue reading