With the player yet to appear in a red shirt, my first close-up look at Alberto Aquilani came in the Melwood canteen, when he politely interrupted my discussion with Rafa Benítez. Luckily for him, I didn’t know how to say “how dare you?” in Italian. Apparently he had something important to talk about – his first outing for the reserves that night, or something – so I left the “do you know who I am?” till another time.

I can honestly say that it was a first; I was at Craven Cottage for the debut of Fowler, Selhurst Park for Owen’s first bow and Anfield when Steven Gerrard came on for his initial substitute appearance. I saw the debuts of Hyypia and Hamann at Hillsborough, and have witnessed the inaugural outings of several other luminaries since my first game in 1990. Never did I expect to first encounter a player as I ordered paella.

Like most sane Liverpool fans, I’ve been disgusted by some of the absolute tripe written about Aquilani. Perhaps I should know not to expect better, but the hysteria surrounding some of the reporting on the Italian beggars belief.

“Worst buy of the season”, declared Gary Lineker. “A flop after his debut” said Oliver Holt of the Mirror, referring to the victory at Aston Villa, ignoring that his debut was a few days earlier.

Yes, let’s ignore the fact that players are signed for long contracts, not short hauls.

All this followed months of impatience from fans and media alike, none of which helped Benítez or his Italian acquisition. For many the new signing turned into the solution to the problem, and then as soon as he played, he himself was a problem. Classic football nonsense.

So, let’s have some facts, and some analysis of why it took so long for him to get a game, and what at he’s done in the first team, now that he’s had a few starts.

Despite mentioning nothing of the sort, the mass media has Benítez “admitting” that Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard could be sold. Pure mischief making. But the bigger worry is the existence of the kind of financial conditions at the club that make such unsettling claims acceptable to the world’s scaremongers.

It’s unusual that I feel sympathy for Manchester United, but a recent David Conn article in the Guardian on the state of the Old Trafford club could almost have been written about Liverpool.

Ha ha, we think.

Then: shit, that’s us.

They have different

It wasn’t the prettiest of displays, but it was up there with the grittiest.

Credit to Everton, who played well, but the Reds created the better chances (if you exclude clearly offside situations, when goals were only scored because of that illegal advantage).

A truly bizarre season. Can we start again, please?

A preview of my latest submission to the official site, available to Premium members.

Six months ago, with Liverpool challenging for the league title, my dad was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (a cancer that lines all internal organs), and given six months to live.

Lest some ex-stars forget, one of the oldest Liverpool FC adages is that ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’.

This is a private interactive project for members of the site.

This is for members to discuss tonight’s game.

Who will Rafa select? And can a mix-and-match line-up fare better than two years ago?

Arsenal have some great youngsters, clearly, but they also tend to play together as a team at other levels, so may have more understanding than a mix of Liverpool’s reserves, kids and senior pros looking for an outing.

I have a boxed limited edition version of Red Race: A New Bastion, signed by myself and some other bloke called, er… Rafael Benítez. Signed, with an added dedication, during our meeting last week.

It’s therefore clearly a one-off.

This is for members of The Tomkins Times – enter an amount you care to bid below, and whoever wins will get the book once that amount is donated to Post Pals, a charity for seriously and terminally ill children.

Bidding has now closed, the book went for an amazing £23o. Thanks to all those who participated.