Just so I don't have my Manchester United supporter friends accusing me of unfairly bashing them, let me spout a few words on my most hated footie team: the dull-as-mud Liverpool. Something about this side just completely irks me. I can watch Man U and appreciate that they are a brilliant team (one match in particular stands out for me, their 8-1 drubbing of Nottingham Forest from their treble-winning season). But watching Liverpool ... ack, it's torture.

The feather in their horrible cap is their ridiculous manager, the idiotic Gerard Houllier. A poor man's Alex Ferguson (very poor), this bonehead has an excuse for everything. Take last weekend's draw against Arsenal, in which Houllier accused Arsenal's Francis Jeffers of diving under a mild challenge from John Arne Riise to earn a penalty. A quote from Houllier: "I asked John Arne Riise and he's very honest and fair, and he said he didn't pull the shirt. He was very unhappy as he felt it was unfair." Translation: "My player is a good guy, so come on. He wouldn't lie now, would he?"

Maybe it's the fault of the British sports media. If I commented that last night's meatloaf was okay, the headline would read "Graves Launches Scathing Attack On Mediocre Meal." It's insane that in the articles on Soccernet you have to scroll through five paragraphs of interpretation before you read an actual quote. After their loss last weekend, my beloved Chelsea are five points behind leaders Arsenal, in second place ahead of Manchester United on goal difference. 21 games have been played, 17 to go. But according to Soccernet, "Chelsea's title hopes were dealt a crushing blow" by the 2-nil loss to Leeds. What? Five points is insurmountable now, eh? I'm not saying we're going to win the championship ... personally, I think the Chelsea squad needs another year to gel ... but where did that claim come from?