Liverpool were soundly beaten by Champions League qualifiers, Fiorentina, 2-0 during a long night in Italy. Two goals from 19 year old, Stefan Jovetic, were enough to bag the Italian team three points and highlight a number of worrying points for Rafael Benitez to look at.

It was one of the worst performances by a Liverpool team in Europe over the last few years and they never looked as though they would threaten at any point. The result will be used by Benitez critics as justification as to why the Reds will not do at all well in the Champions League this season.

Benitez said: “Never have I seen the team struggle as badly as they did in the first half. It was a poor performance. We had too many problems and too many mistakes, and we had to change everything. In the second half we were much better. In the first half, they were on top of us all the time and we were not doing the things that we had been talking about before the game. We were bad in everything.”

“Fiorentina did a good job. They were pressing all around the pitch and we were too nervous, making mistakes, and if you make mistakes you will pay for them. The mentality was not good enough in the first half.”

“Clearly, this new offside rule is changing everything. The best rule in football is the offside rule, but if you don’t know if a player involved is interfering, it is difficult. This time it will be totally different. Hopefully, we will see a different Liverpool, the one that we saw in the second half tonight.”

Liverpool will need to turn themselves around quickly if they are to get out of their Champions League group. The problems last night were quite clear and this should allow the club to address them very quickly.

The problem for Liverpool seems to finding a good level of consistency that will stand the club in good stead ahead of more important games. At the moment no one is able to tell whether the well oiled machine will turn up or the one that lost to Fiorentina last night.

The club need all of their big players to turn up in every single game they play and if Benitez can get the importance of all these points into his players quickly then it will not be long until this type of performance is turned around.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, says that he has no plans to spend big despite the fact that his club have just announced record profits. Arsenal could spend up to £80 million on players if they needed the money in a very short time frame.

However, Wenger appears to be sticking to his guns and will not sway from his philosophy that pace and youth is the way forward. If you go and ask any Arsenal fan in the country what the one thing they dislike about their manager is, they will all say his reluctance to spend money.

Even more will tell you that this reluctance to spend money is the very thing that has held the club back from winning big trophies in the last few seasons. Even one or two of the Arsenal players, Andrey Arshavin and Robin Van Persie, have said that they wish their manager would spend more to bring in more quality.

Consistency seems to be the main problem for Arsenal. Against fringe teams in both the Premier League and Europe they are very good but once the opposition increases in quality, they are sometimes found lacking in many areas.

Wenger said: “There is money to spend but at the moment I am very happy with the squad I have. It’s not because I’m against spending money; I have nothing against spending money. It is not a personal thing, it is just that I have a squad that is strong enough to compete.”

“I do not spend money because out of tomorrow’s squad is [Samir] Nasri, [Theo] Walcott, [Nicklas] Bendtner. And people want me to buy strikers, but where do I put them? I don’t know. I have to then lose players who, for me, are world class.”

Arsenal’s Chief Executive added: “We anticipate it is likely we will make a profit out of that [Highbury Square] development, which will then be available to the football side. Exactly what the profit will be, and when it will be realised, will depend on the strength of the property market.”

So the current squad at Arsenal will be the one that wins any thing within the next two or three season, maybe with the odd addition but there should not be any expectations for expensive signings.

Wenger has never spent big money on a player and although he says that this is not against his nature, the fact is that he’s never forked out £30 million for anyone and instead likes to settle for a nice profit when he does eventually sell players on.

Roque Santa Cruz is exactly the sort of player that Manchester City need to silence everyone doubting the club, according to manager, Mark Hughes. Santa Cruz is one of the players that made the move to City during the summer but has not been able to get into the side because of injury.

The point that Hughes talks about him is because he is not a player that appears to carry an ego. He is more of a good old English type of centre forward than any thing else and Hughes believes this will help the performance of the club and the reputation of the club.

He said: “I like what he gives us. He is a big guy, his physical presence is important for us, because we are not the biggest team in the world up front.”

“Technically, he is good enough. I will always remember the first training session he had at Blackburn and the reaction the other players showed when they saw what he had produced. He has the ability that you sit up and take notice of. I blew all my budget on him when I was at Blackburn and that shows you what I thought of him. He did wonderfully there and if he can replicate even half of that then he will be good value.”

“Roque has been at the biggest club in Germany so he is used to performing under pressure at a club with a big profile. He has the mentality I need.”

It is unknown at this stage whether or not Santa Cruz will be back in Premier League action any time soon. He is still in the recovery stages of injury and although if he was thrown in at the deep end for City’s next Premier League game, he wouldn’t complain but it would not be wise.

As for the point about reputation, City are fast associating themselves with a lot of players who seem to be very egotistical. If Santa Cruz comes in then he can hit the ground running and prove to all of the neutrals around the country that City have good work ethical players and are not just a bunch of over paid premadonas.

It will be good to see him back on a football pitch and although the likes of Wrexham are good and honest clubs they have nothing in Premier League standards. Santa Cruz’s recovery canno be gauged until he is playing against the best that football has to offer.

The fruits of success are starting to ripen in the North East as Sunderland continue their early season momentum. After a thumping 5-2 win at the weekend against Wolves, the Black Cats manager, Steve Bruce, says he is ready to turn his club into an efficiency machine.

A lot of people were not sure about how Sunderland would perform this season and it seems that they could well end up pushing for a European place. They spent a lot of money during the summer and with this comes a lot of pressure and expectancy to do well.

Bruce said: “[Speaking about the weekend match] That’s something you do at the park because one of your mates wants to score. That’s the mentality we have to change. Benty is the best penalty- taker in the country and there would have been hell to pay if Kenwyne had missed.”

“I don’t watch penalties because I’m superstitious, so here was me thinking Darren had got a hat-trick! It won’t happen again.”

Wolves boss, Mick McCarthy, added: “If we’re talking about the frustrating days I’ve had, I’ll be here a long time, but the swingometer is stuck somewhere between pleasing and frustrating. We should have got something from the game.”

The point that Bruce is trying to make is that he wants his team to be efficient first and win the game before mixing things up and experimenting. Bent could easily have had a hat trick but decided to let someone else take the penalty kick.

All strikers playing in the Premier League should be greedy and as hungry as they possibly can be. If you get the chance to put the ball down and score from 12 yards then you do not often let someone else pick up the ball and have a go.

It does not make much sense and little decisions like this may not be thought about at the time but it is clear that Bruce remembers them and will not let the matter go lightly.

What Sunderland need to do now is focus completely on doing well. If they can keep this form going then there is no reason at all why they can not do very well this season. The point is they need to be consistent, this is how all of the top sides do well and perform well.

If they can’t do this then they will do what happened to Aston Villa last season and slip right off the pace to finish in mid table where the situation does not help anyone at the club.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, is being forced to defend his controversial zone marking policy that he uses during Champions League games. A lot of people have said that Rafa will get punished if he continues to use the system in Europe and that it will be one of the reasons that Liverpool will not progress this season.

The system works by giving each player a specific area of the pitch to be in and control as opposed to marking another player directly. Although this system may work well in the Premier League it does not always hold firm in Europe and the system was exposed by a much weaker European side in Liverpool’s first Champions League match this season.

The Spaniard said: “The system has been very effective for us. If you look at the records, we don’t concede more goals than other teams from set-plays. This is the right way for us to go and you see a lot of goals conceded with teams man-marking.”

Former Liverpool striker, John Aldridge, said in a newspaper piece: “Liverpool’s European exit at the hands of Chelsea last season provided conclusive proof that the defensive system is unreliable against intelligent opponents and it will catch them out again.”

“Guus Hiddink clearly identified a weakness in the Liverpool back line at Anfield that night and once Chelsea scored three away goals, their passage to another European semi-final was all but assured.”

“It is still an issue this season and I feel the defenders have lost a little bit of confidence. Liverpool are looking uncertain every time their opponent gets a corner or a free-kick around the box and it is a major worry as they start another Champions League campaign.”

“The truth is defenders make mistakes and this is why we have conceded some disappointing goals. We’ve also had some problems with injuries in defensive positions and this has affected us also this season. With everyone fit, I’m convinced our defence will be strong once again.”

The point is that Liverpool will come up against better class European teams, the likes of which they have not played before. The standard is better than ever and with the money spent by a lot of sides the pressure will be right on them to brush aside teams like Liverpool, who will not be considered serious Champions League contenders until the later stages. It’s a system they will stick with but one they probably shouldn’t.

Spurs romped to victory in their third round Carling Cup match against Preston North End, thanks to a hat trick from Peter Crouch. Tottenham looked in sparkling form and were never threatened during the match as they easily progressed to the next round.

Before the game, Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp, was calling for his side to show some backbone after two heavy recent defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea. Well they showed this in abundance against Preston as the gulf in class between the two sides was huge.

Redknapp said: “It was a good hat-trick. Robbie took his goal well. It [deciding which strikers to start] is a nice problem to have. This was a game a lot of people looked at and had it down as a potential shock.”

“But I thought we were dangerous and sharp going forward. That said, this was the type of game we would have lost 12 months ago. We’ve just had two defeats and we certainly didn’t want to be facing Burnley on Saturday on the back of three defeats.”

Spurs are still very much a team in progression. It is growing more clear as each game passes that Spurs are still some way behind the top teams in particular areas. The real test is reducing the gap in consistency between performances such as this and the ones that see them lose 3-1 to a Manchester United side that play for half an hour with only ten men.

Alan Irvine, the Preston boss, added: “Tottenham were very good going forward and certainly caused us problems. They showed the difference between the Premier League and the Championship. We could have taken the lead before they scored and we could have equalised when we were 1-0 down.”

“The scoreline gives an impression we were played off the pitch but I thought there were some good points to take from the game.”

Ironically this could have been the perfect game at the perfect time for this Spurs side. They were able to go into a match as the heavy favourites and were able to give a number of their first choice players a run out in a match that they were always going to win.

The next test for them will be how they perform in their next Premier League game against Burnley, who have shown no signs at all that they are out of their depth at this level.

El Hadji Diouf has launched a seething attack against Everton after he revealed that bananas were thrown at him during Blackburn’s match with the Toffees at the weekend. Diouf stormed into the headlines after it was reported that he had filed racist allegations against a number of Everton fans.

The fans were said to have been chanting towards him throughout the match as the stewards stood and did nothing to stop it. Diouf believes the Stewards should be disciplined by the club and has revealed that nothing was done to stop the fans throwing the fruit onto the pitch whenever he went towards that section of the crowd.

He said: “People threw bananas at me and the referee told me that he would report this to the police. I have had problems before but never anything like the ones I had on Sunday. I don’t want to let this matter rest.”

Everton Chairman, Bill Kenwright, responded: “Everton abhors anything to do with racism. We have worked diligently and tirelessly to eradicate this blight not only on the game but on society.”

The matter has been reported to the Football Association because the referee mentioned Diouf’s claims in his after match report. The referee also made the police aware at the time but the authorities have not yet commented on whether anyone has been charged following the incident.

This is a worrying story for football because it proves that the clamp down on racism in the game does not appear to be working. Although a search of the area Diouf claims bananas were thrown did not produce any evidence, it is highly likely that the stewards may have cleaned this up after the game had finished.

Everton have said that because of this there will be no official review by the club into any incidents that may have taken place. Therefore they are saying that they are not going to deal with the allegations that they believe are being made up by an opposition player who may have been a bit tainted that his side were so soundly beaten.

Diouf is one of the figures in football that not everyone warms to. His manner and charisma can sometimes be very annoying when he is out playing on the pitch. If the allegations are false then it may have just been that Everton fans were shouting something similar at the player, that he tends to hear at every away ground he goes to.

One of Arsenal’s next generation was caught up in a row over insulting a West Bromwich Albion player in Arsenal’s Carling Cup win last night. Jack Wilshere, is said to have insulted Jerome Thomas to the extent that the West Brom winger reacted angrily before being promptly sent off.

It was a strange dismissal and a shame because for the majority of the night, West Brom had carried themselves well but tempers were raised when Wilshere was seen to be shouting at Thomas just before the player grabbed him around the throat.

West Brom manager, Roberto Di Matteo, said: “It was a red card. My player went to shake the Arsenal player’s hand, he refused and then reacted. There was an exchange of words, then there was a reaction. I know what was said, but I’m not saying that. I’m disappointed that Wilshere didn’t accept his hand. He wanted to help him get up, actually.”

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, added: “My eyes are not great and my ears are even worse. I couldn’t hear anything from the touchline, but I don’t know. He looked like he responded, reacted, and in these cases you always need to control your nerves. I don’t know if he has any excuses or not, but Jack was upset as well. He said he was kicked.”

“Jerome was a bit impulsive, very talented, sometimes nervy and impatient as well. He lacked confidence when he was younger, but he seems to have found that now.”

Besides from this single incident which obviously ruffled a few feathers on both sides of the fence, it was the football that did the talking. Carlos Vela and Mark Randall scored the goals that have put Arsenal into the next round and the side have proved that their youth team is still a lot better than the first team of a highly rated Championship team.

Di Matteo has said that the club may appeal against Thomas’ red card and submit the words that were said as evidence of provocation on the part of the Arsenal player. However, unless the referee says so in his report, the matter is unlikely to be a great one for debate at the Football Association.

The point is that young players are passionate and they get very excited at times during a game. Although Thomas is now a lot more experienced he should have known better and given back the verbal volley instead of reacting to it physically.

Arsenal manager,Arsene Wenger, has admitted that he will take much greater care this season in handling a number of his younger players. Wenger has been criticised in recent times for subjecting young players to too much pressure at an early stage in their careers.

One such player is Jack Wilshere, a highly rated teenager that is being tipped for club and international success in future seasons. Wilshere has performed in the Arsenal first team when many said he would not be able to handle the intensity and pressure of the massive situation that Wenger had dropped him into.

The Arsenal boss said: “I believe last year he paid a price physically for a very demanding start. This year he is strong, more mature, and I’m sure that he will show that tomorrow.”

“It’s difficult to treat players completely the same because you want to speed up a little bit their progress, but physically I will still treat them like anybody else. Most people once they get to 19 years of age without injuries are over-used. A big injury can always happen because you get over-use of the players.”

“We have four centre backs and he is one of the four because [Johan] Djourou is out for nearly the season. We know how good he is, but it is a new start, let’s say. He is still very young for a centre back. He’s 24 and he has the future in front of him. The best ten years are now coming for him. Philippe is an intelligent boy with a very good attitude and you don’t ever question that.”

Wilshere is still a very young man and his body is developing on a weekly basis. It is impossible for Wenger to think that he should be thrown in at the deep end against a lot of players who are physically big and strong.

On the one hand you do have to respect and admire Wenger’s football philosophy because it is a clever and smart one that is based on investing for the future. This is the way that he has developed every Arsenal side so far throughout his managerial career at the club.

On the other hand he needs to listen when people start telling him that certain players are too small or not maturely developed enough to be able to cope with the pace and pressure. The old age argument is that if you’re good enough you’re old enough but this does not detract from the obvious facts.

Arsenal seem to have signed a fantastic new centre back in Thomas Vermaelen. May pundits and former players of the game said they doubted whether he would be able to make the grade as an Arsenal player but following his two goals against Wigan at the weekend, Vermaelen has pushed himself into the Arsenal spot light.

He is also not a bad defender and one of the things that Arsenal have been lacking in recent times is a player who can come in and dominate the defence and help the side take a step in the right direction instead of everyone focusing entirely on their problems.,

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, said: “We watched him from that moment on. He was 21 and maybe he wanted to show he was committed. I liked him when he played against us, I remembered the name, put the name in my brain and kept it in there.”

“Let’s not dream, he won’t score 25 goals this season but has scored more already than I expected. He is, first of all, a defender. I would like clean sheets first but on set-pieces he looks strong and he can maybe get six or seven goals.”

“His leap makes up for his height. He’s taller than you expect him to be and has a very strong upper body. His leap is very sharp, he jumps very quickly and that is important on headers because if you analyse two players, the one who jumps quicker heads the ball first. We’ve not had someone of his type before. He is left-footed as well. That allows us to play [William] Gallas on the right side where he wants to play. It gives us a natural balance in our passing out from the back.”

Arsenal still look a fair way off the best sides in the division but the point is that they now have a player through which most of their energy can go. They have got the type of centre back that can defend to the death and then pop up with a few goals as well, this is a priceless commodity to any football side and something that adds to Vermaelen’s value.

For Arsenal to win a trophy this season then this player will have a large role to play in how it comes about. What remains to be seen is whether the defender can keep up the high performance levels as consistency is the only thing that Arsenal lack. If they get that back again then they will be a phenomenal side.