Mark: Liverpool have been on an impressive run of late and taking away the Sao Paulo defeat look very strong at the moment. What improvements have you noticed from last season?
Cathy: Last season we still had alot of deadwood in the team from Houllier's era, and as with any manager no matter how good, these things take time to put right. This season we have a good goalkeeper (Reina) and a superb midfielder in Sissoko and we have an impressive forward Peter Crouch who I admit has proved me wrong and has played extremely well this season even with the pressure of the papers slating him.
I think there's still some work to be done on the defence but overall im very happy with their performance so far this season. Going back to the Sao Paulo game, we'd gone eleven games unbeaten and should have walked that game as we were by far the better team but the ref just wasnt on our side that day (im sounding like a bitter Evertonian now!), There arn't many teams i dont think would fancy playing us at the moment and thats always a good thing, the lads are definatley doing something right.
Mark: After the jubilation of winning the Champions League in Instanbul back in May there is a strong belief that the Reds can do it again this year, what are your thoughts on this?
Cathy: There's no reason why we cant. There are a lot of very good teams out there in Europe but we are as good as they are, we didnt just win the European Cup through luck like some people suggest. I think if we stay on form then we have a very good chance of winning it again.....the lads just need to stay confident that this is where they should be and they deserve to be.
I think people are still suprised by last years win in Istanbul but after going 3-0 down to AC Milan at half time and then coming back to make it probably the best final of all time the players have each gained a huge amount of confidence and thats kept them going i think this time round but as I say theres a long way to go.
Mark: Djibril Cisse isn't always a regular in the starting line up at Anfield yet he has scored nine goals this season. Do you think he warrants a more regular place in the side?
Cathy: I'm a big Cisse fan and if he goes i think Benitez will regret it. There's a bit of "he was Houllier's" going on here i think, but Houllier got it right with this lad. Time and time again hes coming out on that pitch and proving he is worth a regular place in the team. His performance last week at Goodison was superb and his pace is just amazing i think hes got a lot to offer and we havent seen the best of him yet by a long shot.
Mark: Bolton striker El-Hadji Diouf is likely to be facing Liverpool for the first time since moving between the two clubs. What do you think went wrong for him during his spell on Merseyside?
Cathy: El Hadji Diouf.........hmmm where do i start. There was a lot of hype about him when he first came to Anfield but again he turned out to be another one of Houlliers flops. I think his attitude to Liverpool FC was all wrong......he needed discipline and Houllier wasnt the one to discipline him. He never really shone for us and if im honest he was nowhere near good enough to play for the Reds. Good luck to him though he's got himself on form and become a favourite down at the Reebok.
Mark: The Wanderers have a good home record this season and Liverpool have won just once at the Reebok Stadium since it opened eight years ago. Are your side confident of victory when coming across to Bolton given their recent run of form?
Cathy: Yeah im very confident that we can win this game, like we've said already our form is excellent at the minute. I dont think that Bolton pose a real threat to Liverpool no dispespect but we have some excellent players in the team such as Sissoko, Gerrard, Carragher and Crouch who can cause problems. It wont be a walkover for us but i think we'll come away with the three points.
Walking Down The Manny Road would like to thank Cathy for giving us her input on the Reds and on the upcoming game between Bolton and Liverpool. It is sure to be a cracking contest which will signal the start of football in 2006
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