"Is that a drink ticket? I'll have two then"

Just when I thought that defenders were the new media generators what with their off field sexual peccadilloes, breaking legs, and getting injured all over the place. What happened to Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy, and Lee Bowyer? They seemed to have had off season pre-frontal lobotomies or are on downers or smoking sheeshas.

But Steven Gerrard gave us some hope. So on a day when Liverpool gets 5 yellow cards, Gerrard goes one better and makes what appears to be an offensive gesture to Andre Marriner, the referee. But it really was not so.

Liverpool came up with a strong statement that Gerrard was not really flipping the bird or trying to tear another orifice and it seems to have worked. The FA might be willing to overlook the matter since Marriner himself did not bring it up.

However, more disturbing is Gerrard's inability to manufacture goals. It has become a big factor in the regression model that might explain the reason for Liverpool's abysmal and chaotic season. Throw in and out Tom Hicks, Lucas Leiva, the blinkered use of Benayoun, the defensive let downs, and Rafa to explain the variance.

"Poor attitude, lack of character, limited intelligence" was how Rafa summed up the Reds effort against Wigan.

It all came undone with a Hugo Rodallega strike as the February push has turned into the Ides of March.

Rafa's statement maybe true but it does not hold for the one player who always gives them a chance- Yossi Benayoun.

On intelligence alone, the Israeli would find himself in the World's top XI. Yet, he is almost always rationed in Benitez's team selection, relegated to footnotes. It's too bad his team mates can't keep up. He was taken off with 20 minutes to go by Alberto Aquilani and the attack faded into a series of long balls.

In a midfield comprising Maxi Rodriguez, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, and even Steven Gerrard - Benayoun comes across as a giant. Yet he logs almost 1000 minutes less playing time than Lucas who can be charitably described as barely adequate. Captain Fantastic is in the shadows of last year's prodigious contribution and when comparing goals to minutes played, Benayoun comes out streets ahead.

It is time to move to a club where Benayoun's midfield vision can be fully exploited. He is in his third year of a four year contract when he signed on for Liverpool in July 2007. Time to get the pen out.

The defender re-aggravates his calf injury which means he will not only be missing against Hull this weekend but could be out for up to a month. Earlier, he was ruled out of the Porto second leg today. In his place, Sol Campbell (whose return can be counted as a success story) will see more action with Thomas Vermaelen.

Wenger on Gallas:

"We were impatient with him and we pushed him and he wanted to get on as well, that is why maybe it has happened. But there is no obvious sign as to why it keeps coming back. He has no pain at all, then goes for a little jog and then it goes again."

This weekend Arsenal meets with Gallas to discuss his contract extension. It appears that the 12 month restriction for players over 30 might be lifted in his case.

Liverpool redefined the word nadir for themselves - sinking to a new all time low....
Hugo Rodallega scored this goal for Wigan and all Liverpool managed was 5 bookings leading Benitez to question the intelligence of his team.

The dreaded metatarsal fracture crops up before the World Cup.

This time it is Wes Brown who is to undergo a bone scan for a suspected fifth metatarsal fracture which could keep him out for as long as three months. His absence surely poses yet another headache for Capello in the midst of rejiggering an already thinned back line.

His injury will surely set in motion the debate once again whether England's long hard season without a winter break is counterproductive in a World Cup year. While other competitor nations have key personnel injured, the list is far less extensive and they will have them ready in time for the World Cup.

A goal and an assist as Everton swamp Hull, 5-1. So is this Donovan's Everton swansong? He still has the Birmingham match next weekend before the Galaxy's repo men come calling.

However, it looks like he very much wants to stay longer.

The best bet for him would be if the MLS season is postponed because the league and the players union cannot come to agreement over the free agency issue that are a sticking point in the collective bargaining talks. The players representatives are threatening a strike.

That way Donovan can claim no other choice. However for all those domestic players staking their claim for a World Cup berth, a work stoppage could not come at a worse time.

Heartwarming scenes from the fans and the players alike. Aaron Ramsey was very much in our hearts and minds today. Tom Jenkins has more photos on the Guardian website.

Check out Nasri as he spots Fabregas running towards goal and delivers a sublime ball over the Burnley thicket of players right onto his feet. Fabregas scores his 17th goal of the season nutmegging Brian Jensen in the process.

But through the match it was Bungle It Like Bendtner and a dozen missed opportunities. Arsenal had to settle for a 3-1 win with Theo Walcott and Andriy Arshavin returning to welcome goalscoring form. David Nugent scored the solitary goal for Burnley.

Walcott clearly elevated his game, no doubt stung by Chris Waddle's twaddle on his lacking a football brain. A charge the gaffer fiercely rejected.

A link to more highlights of the game >>

Do it for Aaron.

Arsenal make four changes with Mikael Silvestre, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Denilson coming in for Bacary Sagna, Sol Campbell, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Song.

Great chance of going up on top if they score four goals or more.

Wenger talking about how much he admired a great technical tackle as much as a good offensive creative pass in this clip from his conference.

He was thoughtful, factual, and yet forceful. Predictably the press went after the Gallas tackle in the Bolton game. Wenger put them in their place reminding them that Mark Davies was out of the game for less than 10 days and not the 4-5 weeks that they claimed.

The most gripping part was his emotional response when asked if he was looking for more protection for his players.

" I look for nothing. You cannot say, listen, you cannot say you have a 19 year old boy who has a double broken leg like it happened to us Sunday and say that everything is alright. Do you accept that? I cannot."

Hard to refute. It was pushback against the overwhelming Shawcross is a nice lad and bears no malice punditry.

The BBC link to the larger segment >>

In some good news, Aaron Ramsey also made his first statement after his surgery vowing to return "fitter and stronger." He thanked Glenn Whelan, the Stoke player who comforted him after his injury. Ryan Shawcross was not mentioned.

His injury is not considered career ending but as in Eduardo and Diaby's case there are lingering effects that can force protracted injury time off. So there are stumbling blocks on the way to a full return to the pitch.