I didn't know we have yet to officialise the signing of Voronin. But I guess just like how people very much forget about him, no one really cares too much. And until now, I still have no clear idea of why is he signed for. To replace our good ol' Zenden, now that he has signed for Marseilles? We don't need another Zenden in my opinion, utility player and player that can't produce are two different things. Of course, we can't take away everything from Zenden, he was decent on few occasions. Still, that's not exactly what we need for a winning team?
Moving on to Voronin. I checked his record, his best scoring performance came from season 2004/2005. Played 32 matches for Bayer Leverkusen in Bundesliga (7 times as substitute), scored 15 goals, and 6 Champions League matches with 2 goals. Last season he scored 10 goals in Bundesliga for Leverkusen out of 31 matches. Hardly a goal machine, and I guess everyone would have expected that. But he was Leverkusen's top scorer.
I watched Voronin played during the World Cup. Personally I am not impressed. What I saw is a runner rather than a player. He can run, but his control with the ball was poor. His play annoyed me that much that I didn't bother to watch Ukraine play during the World Cup. But admittedly, even Shevchenko was poor during the World Cup. So it really made me think hard when Rafa signed him, what is that from him that Rafa is interested in?
I try to find out more by watching his goals. And the more I see the more I am convinced that he is the kind of striker that is very quick to react on scoring a goal. Most of his goals came straight after he received passes from his teammates. He doesn't dribble a lot (he does at times), but when you give him the ball, he will find the net. He reminds me of Inzaghi, but faster and tougher. He might not be as sharp as Inzaghi, but he will get you goals. He seemed to me like a super-sub in the making. We are in a stalemate, bring in super-voro, and he gets you the precious one goal. The good thing about him, I guess, is that he will just kick the ball and try for the goal rather than hesitating and keep dribbling until the ball is snatched away. Sometimes, in situation where you have to get a goal, making shots are more important. It doesn't mean you have to kick everywhere, but get a good position and try for it. If the Youtube videos are to be believed, then I think he also has good positioning.
If what I think about him is true, then probably is a good thing. Last season, on many occasions we were locked into a stalemate when the opponent teams park the whole 11 players inside their half and we found ourselves running out of ideas. We lack creativity and element of surprise, which I thought is the very reason we missed Garcia, also the good eyes for a goal. Garcia was very quick reacting to stray balls and usually these opportunities get you that all important goal. Now Garcia has left, Voronin could be his replacement.
I guess for a manager like Rafa, it makes sense to sign player like that, because Rafa loves options supposedly a tactician. Having said all that, I guess Voronin might play more as a sub and start on cup matches. But when he came on, he will save us with his all important goal and hence known as super-voro. Well, at least that's what I hope from our new number 10, hehe!
So we have finally finalised the deal and Torres is our new number 9. Woo! I am still very excited about this.
Since he is now our would-be-star striker, I went through a bit information about him. I knew he is the captain of Atletico Madrid, but I didn't realise he did that since he was 19! Quite incredible. He also won a handful of awards in youth competitions. No doubt he is a talent. But I guess what's more relevant I think is his goalscoring stats.
In season 02/03, he scored 13 goals (played 30 matches). In 03/40, he scored 19 goals (played 35). In 04/05, he scored 16 from 37 games. In 05/06 he scored 13 from 36 games. And last season 14 goals from 36 games. I only accounted the goals he scored from Primera Liga. From the stats, they don't look that much impressive. If we are looking for 20-league goals-striker, then Torres's record does look a bit modest to be one. Some people say the reason he didn't score enough is because he was playing for Atletico Madrid, and some say because he played not further enough in the line. I don't know if they are true, but the fact that he score more than 10 goals consistently in a team that have always been in the middle of the league table seems to me like a decent effort.
Actually, what convinced me the most that he will be a good signing is because Rafa will be his coach. Our master tactician is not only good at on field tactics, but have been relatively successful in getting the best out of his players. Just look at the team that won the Champions League in Istanbul and imagine what would have happened had Houllier was the manager. I don't even think we will went through the group stage to be honest!
Rafa has fast tracked our progress from a team dreaming to gain back its past glory to now a team that is slowly making the dream a reality. I believe Torres will benefit under Rafalution and hopefully becoming a big success to coincide with our winning the league crown.
And Torres is going to be a successful Fernando of ours. Many people are saying Fernando Morientes was a failure, but I have all the reasons the believe Torres is not going to be Morientes 2 in Liverpool. What I have observed is that Morientes' main problem was he couldn't adapt to the pace of the premier league. And I guess that makes him felt a bit out of place and lacking confidence. Torres on the other hand is young and have considerable pace and physique. Also, Torres arrive with big enthusiasm and great passion, certainly hungry for success unlike Morientes who had won Spanish league title and Champions League before with Real Madrid. Ok, those may not be necessarily relevant, but I still think there's no way the two can be compared to measure their success probability in Liverpool. Saying these are hopeful in my part, but I am glad I feel that way.
Although Torres is a great news, I do think we need at least 2 more significant signings to make us a side capable of realistically challenging the premiership title. And these signings should certainly be coming from wing positions. Everyone knows about this but I guess no one will know more than Rafa himself. My best bet is that he has already have one or two signings undergoing already behind Torres' deal. With the money we splashed on Torres, I don't think we will be holding back anymore on other signings that might cost us big. On two previous occasions, we missed out on Alves and Simao on around 10 million pounds and they proved themselves to be successful with their own respective teams. I guess Rafa won't make the mistake for the third time, although at times it's beyond his power to spend on players. With the big spending on Torres, if we don't go on and sign the wingers we so desperately need, it's a joke really. We can't settle for the second best or third best anymore, we must go for the best. And since we have started, please don't stop!
I hope there will be some good news soon. I believe when we do sign the wingers we need, this is going to be a season full of hope. Heck I don't even care if Tevez signs with the Mancs as long as you tell me we sign 2 wingers.
The picture is almost complete. I hope the owners don't hold Rafa back and provide him the support he needs because he is the one to make things happen for us! So don't make us wait anymore, give Rafa money and cashing in to the glory!
Liverpool have signed Spain international striker Fernando Torres for a reported fee of around £21.5 - £26.5 million - beating the previous club record of £14 million for Frenchman Djribil Cisse.
The 23 year-old put pen to paper on a siz-year deal on a reported salary of £90,000 a week and will wear the famous number 9 jersey previously worn by Anfield legends Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler.
The Spaniard leaves La Liga side Atletico Madrid with a record of 82 goals in 214 league games and will be given the responsibility of leading the rather goal-shy Liverpool attack in their quest for a first Premiership title in 17 years.
In his first interview with the club, the Spanish ace expressed his delight in joining the Mighty Reds.
"I am very, very happy. This was the biggest decision of my footballing life but I've come to a winning club. This is a club of champions - one of the biggest there is. I now want to play my part in that and be a champion too and help the club progress."
While I have previously expressed my reservations about this signing due to the lack of success Spanish strikers have had in the English Premier League, this is indeed a significant moment for the English giants.
The enormity of the transfer fee shows that Liverpool are finally able to compete with the 'big boys' in spending big on a single player and it also shows that the new American owners are willing to offer funds for Benitez to build a championship winning team.
The downside in all of this is that the manager is fast running out of excuses to deliver a much coveted Premiership trophy for the five-time European champions.
Will Torres become the next Anfield legend to grace the famous number 9 shirt?
I seriously cannot believe Garcia is really going out of Anfield. He was just here for 2 seasons and it feels like a long time. His fantastic goals against Juventus, Chelsea, Charlton and others will be remembered forever. I don't know about other fans, but I feel very sad with his departure. As I said in my previous entry, he had both worst and best moments in a red shirt, but I think his contribution outweighs his mistakes. I had missed him last season when he was injured and thought about how much we could have done with him on our side, like Champions League final. Alas, I never thought we would have seen the last magics from him. I wish him the very best of luck in the future, and he will never walk alone.
Coming soon?
On the brighter side of the news, Torres deal is almost complete. Everyone seems to be expecting this signing with high enthusiasm. I will be happy if he arrives, although Charles, my fellow blogger, was right with his concerns on Spanish strikers. Indeed there hasn't been a lot of proven Spanish strikers in EPL, and Morientes was arguably a failure. I haven't seen a lot of Torres, but I trust the judgment of Rafa on this one. A 26 million pound transfer can't be anything casual, and if they don't have a fair bit of certainty that this guy will work for the better of the team, then you can bet Liverpool will have more to worry about than just on field performances. Moreover, they are the ones who will be making the signing, what use is there for me to keep thinking whether this signing will be good? So instead of worrying, I look on this will full of optimism. I don't care if he will be explosive exciting striker or slow efficient goal poacher, as long as he can get the goals, get the job done, win us games, I am more than happy. Tell me who is genuinely happy when Crouchy first arrived in Liverpool?
I believe with his reported talent and youth, Torres will be a success in Liverpool, and I can see this as one of the key moments that will begin our serious title charge on coming years. Let's hope this is the beginning of our revival and more signings will be coming soon. I believe there's more when we get this done. Until then, let's just keep believing.
Honestly I was shocked when I first saw that picture. Who is that, he looks familiar....oh! It's Rafa's dad!
Haha, no I am not making fun of Rafa, that man is a legend. And you really got to love him, apart from his tactical and managerial brilliance, his intelligent speeches, he also enjoy entertaining everyone. First he slips during a match trying to kick a ball (still remember THIS?), now he got a facial hair! Do let me know if you have seen other managers will facial hairs, because I can't remember seeing one. Or any other funny Rafa antics are welcomed!
Speaking of even serious matters, apart from Rafa getting new moustache, so far we have yet to sign any big players as what fans have been anticipating. We signed several more young players around Europe, namely goalkeeper Nikolay Mihailov from Levski Sofia and defender Mikel San Jose from Athletic Bilbao. And then, we are rumoured to be bidding on Benayoun, closing on deal with Torres, and about to sell Cisse and Garcia. Some other stories, such as Malouda, Simao, Alves etc have been quiet.
Apparently, it's reported everywhere that Torres is about to sign for us on around 25 million pounds. And Garcia might be going opposite direction at 4 million. I am happy if Torres come, but not necessarily with Garcia going. I personally believe his flair and magic to turn around a game is precious to our team. And he also has that predator-like sense in scoring goals. Despite in certain games he tend to frustrate a lot, I think he has done more of the good than of the bad. I want him to stay as Liverpool FC's player.
Torres is a good player, and young. I haven't seen too much of him, but I have this feeling he will be successful with us. So I will welcome this deal. While I have always regard Benayoun as a good player, so he will be a very good squad player to have.
Good to hear that Carson is staying with us, and Momo has signed a new deal. With Momo and Alonso extended their contract, we are going to have a very crowded midfield with Gerrard, Mascherano and Lucas Leiva joining. Surely we will be seeing some rotation again this coming season. And hopefully not another debate on Gerrard's best position.
Also, Mascherano spoke out inviting Tevez to join him at Liverpool. I believe this is a good sign, combining with the news that he had rejected Inter Milan. If Tevez also end up joining us, then I am more than happy with our summer window shopping on striker's position.
What bugs me is still winger position. I believe Rafa will fix this soon. And I don't want to say who I want to, it's down to Rafa to make the decision anyway, so I will just sit back and happily waiting for the good news.
I guess as fans we can just be patient for now. There's nothing much we can do anyway, so probably what we can do is have a laugh on Rafa's new moustache during this silly season instead of complaining all day long. I believe we will be doing it LFC style, where when things seem to be not going well, we will surprise with 3 goals back. In this case, several significant signings in a row. How does that sound?
I know my post title will get any Liverpool fans excited, jumping around crazily only to get disappointed after reading what I meant was that we signed new contracts with our current players.
No, don't blame me. I am one of the quite frustrated, if not terribly frustrated, Liverpool fans that just waited so eagerly on new BIG signings yet no news so far. What we have are all rumours and speculations.
We are rumoured to be strongly linked with Lyon's Malouda. Barcelona's Eto'o. Benfica's Simao. Sevilla's Alves. And somehow whispered Charlton's Bent, and West Ham's Tevez. So many and so exciting. But none of them are signed yet. And the fact that the news of Mancs have signed two exciting young players (Nani and Anderson) has sounded like a long time ago, I think we all are getting freaking impatient!
I was waiting and waiting that my post will be the one when we signed a BIG name player, yet it seems too long. I can wait no more, so I post this blog to have something else to say.
Let's talk and speculate our own players now, shall we?
The new signings
Gerrard, Carra, Reina and Alonso have signed a new contract. And there might be more coming. It's a good sign, that we have secured our main players' service. Also a reply to speculation that Alonso is about to leave. So he is staying now. Then, will Sissoko go? What I heard is that he will be given new contract as well. If that's true, well we shall see some interesting decision within our formation next season. Including Masch, we have 4 central midfielders and we just signed Lucas Leiva from Gremio who is also a central midfielder, makes it total 5. It doesn't really make sense unless we loan out Sissoko or Leiva. I don't want to see players complaining not enough games, it's never a good thing to hear.
Meanwhile, Padelli has also departed back to Sampdoria. And we seemed to be in need for a new goalkeeper as Dudek is leaving and Carson wanted first team football. What about giving a chance to our youth goalkeeper?
Apart from Leiva, another signing is Sebastian Leto from Lanus, a club I never heard until now. Seems decent, a left winger, but from the video I seen I just think he is not going to be the sort of exciting winger. He has the physical attributes for Premier League, but not necessarily other else. Maybe I am just being an arse. And I hope he proves me wrong.
Also, two Hungarian young players that seem to get Rafa very excited. I am tired of those 'highly rated' tags to be honest. Wasn't Mark Gonzalez 'very highly rated' too? It's a good thing to keep buying for the future, but there are so many that we bought yet none of them have really came out and impress. Maybe time is not ripe yet, but still. If we can get early 20s players and play first team, what's the need of 18 and 19 playing youth football? Because by the time those early 20s retired or closing on expiry date, those 18 or 19 players are almost equally old. And none of them wanted to be kept so long either. Just look at Carson and Warnock. If they don't get to play in first team soon enough, I just don't think abundance of young players are so great unless they help improvise our academy and end up raising the level of us producing great domestic talents. And I suspect that's what in Rafa's mind.
One last note regarding these new Hungarian young players though, is that they want to be a new Yorke-Cole partnership of the Mancs? Interesting, considering they idolise our rival's pair as example.
Apart from waiting on new players coming in, we are also seemingly interested in getting some players out. Will Cisse go to Marseilles already? Will Aston Villa come up with enough money to buy Bellamy? And possibly Kewell? Kewell's one is the most controversial among the fans with some wanting him to go, some wanting him to stay. I believe those who want him to go are considerably more, though. I don't want him to go Aston Villa, I will give him one last chance. Unless he gets injured again, there's no reason why we don't utilise him after paying so much to get him recovered. I study economics, and I don't think we reached the breakevent point yet. There is a risk that we might never get enough, but still, he is healthy now, why not? I know it's a big risk, but I just have that belief that he will come good next season.
Oh man, it's such a painful long wait. But it's not going to trouble me if we do SIGN somebody. I will go freaking crazy if we wait and wait and end up signing second rate players again! Sign someone already!! (getting impatient again)
Liverpool have unveiled their new away kit for the upcoming season (07/08).
In a change from the shocking (for me personally anyway) yellow away kit, Liverpool and kit makers Adidas have come up with a more traditional white, red and black number which is great deal more pleasing on the eye than the previous away kit.
Gerrard, Reina and Kuyt poses in the new away kit
The kit will be available in stores for Kop fans after June 21. As a special pre-order offer, orders made online before midnight on June 15 will receive a special free supporter's pack (while stocks last).
After Liverpool's triumph in the Champions League 2005, Reds boss Rafa Benitez said that changes in personnel had to be made if the side were to challenge for the Premiership and european honours year after year.
And while Liverpool has grown stronger over the past two years, it is still some way short of Manchester United and Chelsea in the league due to the lack of financial muscle the club has for signing truly world-class players.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o
With the promise of a decent transfer kitty - albeit on a per-player basis - from the new American owners, Benitez will now have the financial backing to challenge the other european big-wigs to sign the players to take the club "two-steps forward".
While Liverpool performed admirably in the Champions League final loss to AC Milan two days ago, they must address the lack of potency in the final third of the pitch if they are to win games against world-class opposition.
The current defensive line of Finnan, Carragher, Agger and Riise is fantastic and only minor reinforcements will be needed there.
In the centre of midfield, Gerrard and Mascherano are dead-set certainties with Alonso and Sissoko more than capable of providing cover. While Alonso has a tendency of giving away fouls with a sloppy tackle, I believe his services must be retained because his passing is fantastic. In that regard, he is quite similar to Manchester United's Paul Scholes and look how well he can do for his side.
Spain striker Fernando Torres
Out wide on the wing is where the inconsistency lies. For all of Pennant's talent and ability to run at the opposition, his crossing ability is inconsistent and poor. He wasted too many opportunities to deliver the final ball in Athens and that must be addressed - either he improves all be replaced with a world-class right winger.
On the lefthand side, Zenden has been told he can leave while Gonzalez is certain to depart the club for Spain's Real Betis. Gonzalez's departure is a huge shame because I don't feel he was given the time to find form nor a proper run in the team to show his true worth.
That leaves us Harry Kewell, a world-class left winger when he isn't injured - the operative word being 'when' here. If he can maintain his fitness and avoid injuries, he will have a place in the side for at least a few more years.
Spain striker David Villa
Upfront, Fowler has been allowed to leave and neither Crouch or Bellamy are certainties to stay. This only leaves Kuyt a guaranteed place in the squad for next season and as much as his work ethic is to be commended, he isn't a world-class striker cum goal poacher.
Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o and Valencia's David Villa are rumoured to be on top of Benitez's wanted list while the club has also been linked to Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres.
These are all fantastic players, but only Eto'o has proved to be a world-class player on a consistent basis. My top priority would be signing Eto'o followed by Carlos Tevez, the young Argentinian that single handedly saved West Ham from the drop.
He is far from the finished article, but he has awesome potential and has already shown that he can hack it in the Premier League.
Villa and Torres would only be my third and fourth options only.
Time will tell who arrives at Anfield for Rafa's revolution (version 2)!
For Sydney fans of all football, there couldn't be any worse day than yesterday. In Rugby League, the prestigious State of Origin I saw NSW lost to Queensland after leading the first half by two tries. Back in football, Sydney FC are kicked out of Asian Champions League after managed to only finish the game scoreless against Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds. They needed a win to proceed to the next round. And for Liverpool fans in Sydney, such as myself, it can only triple the disaster with the defeat in the final.
A dream shattered
I felt an excitement like never before when the kickoff was still hours away. Not even during the final in Istanbul i feel this way. But my optimism did not translate into a victory of the Reds. I think there is a very strong confident and positivity around the Liverpool fans before the match, apparently believe that we are a stronger side and we have beaten them before after 3 goals down. Also, Milan of now do not have the deadly strikers in Shevchenko and Crespo like 2 years ago. Unfortunately, they still have Kaka.
Kaka destroyed us two years ago in the first half. But we overcame that on the second half and we won the match. This time, Kaka is in a more dangerous form. We tried to pin him down, but somehow that couldn't stop him to orchestrate his team into winning their 7th Champions League trophy.
The first goal, was crap. I don't know why but i just think that the ball touched Inzaghi's hand and it's ugly. Whether it's a handball or not, i believe it doesn't really matter now. And it doesn't matter for Inzaghi anyway, he celebrated like he has scored from 80 yards with an overhead kick. It was during the dying minutes of the first half, and Kaka was fouled. I have had a bad feeling about that, and it turned out to be exactly what i afraid of.
We tried to get one back, but it just never seems to arrive. Frustrated, Rafa gambled by sending in Crouch and taking out Mascherano. What, Mascherano?! That was my response. Surely, the world understand that Masch is there to keep Kaka quiet, and he did that excellently. And look what happen next. Kaka dribbled freely outside the penalty box and sliding the killer pass to Inzaghi and he sloted pass Reina just nicely. The second goal was class. But it would never happen had Masch was still around. And all we can do is to watch the overly ecstatic Inzaghi celebrate once again as if he has scored a Maradona-like goal. But well, he deserved it. After all, that was a good finishing and you can't take anything away from that.
Two goals down, less than 10 minutes left. Somehow to stage a comeback like what we loved to do seems a bit impossible by now, because we are running out of time. Yet when we managed to grab a goal back in dying minutes through Kuyt's goal (which seemed to be offside), somehow the fighting spirit is back. Although we have just 2 minutes plus 3 injury time minutes, we believe it's enough for us to get back level. Yet the chance of making another fairytale comeback was cut by the referee, who apparently never watches Liverpool's matches in Istanbul or last year's FA Cup final against West Ham. We should be given at least one more minute than the time the referee called the end of the match. And Rafa's frustration on that was fully understandable, because we all know what one more chance, one more kick by either one of our players can make a difference. I can bet that everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, watching were still thinking that one shot from Gerrard at that moment could make a difference. Yet we are denied the chance.
It's disappointing, and every Liverpool fans must be cursing the referee, but we were incapable of beating them within 90 minutes is a fact. We can't protest against something with only a possibility. An extra kick might have 95% chance of becoming a goal, but it's always just a possibility. For me it seems that Rafa will have to improve this team, especially in scoring department where we are being disappointed most of this season. Kuyt scored the consolation, but i would have preferred if Crouch was played instead. Alonso and Masch were there to stop Pirlo and Kaka, so i don't blame Rafa for playing Gerrard behind lone striker. Pennant proved his worth too, but he should be the one substituted by Crouch, not Masch because he was getting bullied by Milan's players on second half!
Zenden shouldn't have started. Kewell was far productive. If Kewell had started, should he limp off you can still put someone in his replacement. But if he gets injured after subbed in, who will have no left winger to replace him! Anyway, perhaps it doesn't make any difference as well since Zenden wasn't really doing anything to be honest. I am so disappointed with Kewell not starting the match and not being played earlier.
I was wondering what would happen had Bellamy was started instead. Certainly the aging and slower defenders of AC Milan would not be able to cope with Bellamy's lightning pace. Kuyt is just too slow and poor in passing. I missed Luis Garcia...
Anyway, it's over now. The feud between Liverpool and AC Milan are now tied with both winning once. I believe there could be more Liverpool v Milan encounters in the future, at least Liverpool will certainly be going very far in the competition again and again. We may have lost, but it's a good effort by Liverpool this season. Congratulations to AC Milan after having a scandalous start of the season.
This is just the beginning. Next season we will be better, hopefully Rafa can finish his final touch and make us into a strong and consistent team. And preferably a good attacking Liverpool. Glory is waiting.
Everyone was hoping for the fairytale kind of ending for Fowler's career as a Red. The stage was set, the cheers are loud, but the play was not good enough.
God's departure...
Probably the last time he will wear the captain armband, Fowler led the red team that is now filled with the returning main players. Gerrard, Mascherano, Agger, Carra, Riise, Finnan and Kuyt are all back in the line up. The goalie position, however, was filled by the debutant Daniele Padelli. Facing Charlton, a side already relegated, it was very much hoped that it could be the perfect ending for Fowler with the line up we had.
But we started badly, and eventually we are behind 1-2 at 89 minutes. Then, with the fairytale seemingly over, Rafa pulled out Fowler just before full time to give him the ovation from the crowd. Yet when that should be appropriate, a minute later Charlton defender handled the ball inside the penalty box and penalty kick was given. At that moment, everyone knows this is an ending not meant to be for 'God', as he could have taken the penalty and scored for that one last time. Kewell, instead, took the penalty and converted it. The match ended 2-2, and how everyone hoped it could be a better ending for the Reds Legend.
Well, it might not be the fittest ending for the great Robbie Fowler, but everyone knows how great he was and i believe there couldn't be any better way to show him how much fans adored him than by giving him the nickname 'God'. I guess we very much want to see him related with Liverpool again, so hopefully he can stay and take a role within the club and be with us. Whatever it is, he is great and all the best.
Although we performed poorly, there are still positives. The fact that we played poorly showed that we need to be careful and not be complacent. And another good thing was to see Kewell play again and score. He certainly made a strong comeback and placed himself well to be included for the all important Champions League final next week. I am confident he will feature, although not necessarily from the start. I guess after 2005's final, Rafa must have had some thoughts about what he would do this time to not repeat the first half of that final. You cannot always come back and win after going 3 goals behind after all. And we will talk about that later. For now, it's the end of another season in Premier League. We haven't been good enough this season, but next season will be something to expect for Liverpool fans. The summer transfer window will be very interesting as well. And i can't wait to see what's coming, but that will be after i celebrate the arrival of the 6th!
I was feeling unwell past few days, so couldn't catch up instantly to what happened around Liverpool FC, and the performance against Fulham did not help any bit.
It was pretty much expected that Rafa would rest a lot of key players again, but then the team we put on against Fulham are not actually very poor on qualities, at least by 'names' we should have enough to take on a relegation threatened side!
Reina is back in front of the goal, Alonso, Sissoko, Pennant and Gonzalez are not really second string, and we got Bellamy with Fowler up front. The defensive line is the same as the lineup we used against Portsmouth, Arbeloa, Paletta, Hyypia and Insua, which is slightly weaker, but they weren't the reason we lost. Our problem is at the middle and up front.
Gonzalez did nothing to impress, and he looks to me like a young man trying hard to impress but just couldn't do it. He is not calm in his play, therefore very erratic. His crosses are exceptionally poor. Sissoko seemed to be quite affected by the arrival of Mascherano, instead of showing the usual spirit in fighting the midfield, he didn't really do much. Probably lost his confidence with Masch so much preferred ahead of him now. Pennant was average, and he has done that quite several times already. Unless he can consistently throwing good performances, he always seemed to me like a slightly more than average winger. Alonso perhaps performed best among them. Wasn't at his greatest, but his showing has more meaning to the game than the rest.
Bellamy was an apparent threat with his pace, and threatened to score several times early in the match. But combined with poor midfield performance and his unwillingness to work harder, he disappeared soon. And Fowler, i just don't see him scoring except from a penalty spot. No one will argue how great he was and we, the fans, love him. But realistically speaking he has definitely past his time. And i was quite frustrated when i saw him made a very clumsy tackle in front of our penalty area. I guess no one is expecting much anyway, although we will be very happy if he scores. I hope he does, at the last match of this season.
He is back!
The only thing that brightened up my day was to see Harry Kewell back in action. Subbed in to replace Gonzalez with around 10 minutes left, he made an immediate impact with a shot that went wide. If Fowler was quicker, though, that could be a goal. He looks fresh and younger! I hope Rafa stick with him for at least another season, because i do believe he can get back to his best again.
As Charles has posted, Rafa might prepare him for the Champions League final. Finnan has also voiced his backing, which is rare, since our solid right back has always been rather quiet. I hope this is a good sign and hopefully he can contribute more this time! It will mark his perfect comeback i supposed, if he does score a winner or something. Anyway, i am sure many of us will be finger crossed on that. And before that, probably he will star on the last premier league match for us!
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has confirmed on the official Liverpool website that he believes Harry Kewell may be able to take part in the Champions League final in Athens later this month.
The Socceroos winger has been out since last summer's World Cup but made his first-team comeback as a substitute against Fulham on Saturday.
Although the Aussie has just one more fixture to play to get himself fully match fit before the final on May 23, Benitez insists there is a chance the injury-jinxed star could play a part.
Kewell: "I'm finally injury-free!!!"
"It was positive to see Harry again. Maybe he will have a chance for the final. We will have time for testing him.
"We need to test him because right now you could say physically that he is fit but really you need to play, you need to tackle, and to sprint." said Benitez.
Fellow colleague Steve Finnan believes the return of Kewell has given the Reds a timely boost ahead of their eagerly awaited clash with AC Milan, in a repeat of the epic 2005 final.
"I don't know whether Harry expected to play again this season but it is good that he came on and managed to get some minutes," he said. "It's great because he's been out a long time, so it is like having a new player. He might play his part in the final.
Socceroo Harry Kewell has ended his injury nightmare with an impressive comeback for the Liverpool Reserve team against Everton.
The Reds number seven hadn't kicked a ball since scoring for Australia against Croatia in the World Cup and has been on the sidelines all season.
He came on after 55 minutes and played on the left wing and made an instant impact when he beat two defenders down the left and set up Craig Lindfield for a tap-in from close range.
Kewell's return from injury is a huge boost for the player and club with the Champion's League final later this month.
Should Kewell prove his fitness, I would expect to see him at least on the bench for the game against AC Milan.
Here is a video clip of Daniel Agger's goal which cancelled out Joe Cole's winner from the 1st leg of the Champion's League semi-final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea.
The goal was brought about after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was fouled by Joe Cole outside the penalty box.
Gerrard fooled the Chelsea defence by appearing to run up for a crack at the near post only to roll the ball into the path of the unmarked Daniel Agger for the defender to prod the ball home.
The might Reds went onto win 4 - 1 on penalties to book a place in the final of the Champion's League for the second time in three years.
I wonder what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be doing now on the night May 23rd?
Just after the defeat at Portsmouth, came the news about Bellamy's future at Liverpool FC. The report is HERE.
After the surprising news, Bellamy came out and rubbish the report. HERE
Just briefly, the BBC Wales journalist reported that Bellamy is thinking of leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, and that he hasn't got a good working relationship with Rafa. He doesn't like the rotation policy apparently, and he prefers to play week in week out. Then Bellamy came out and denied the report saying he got a good relationship with Rafa. What everyone's thinking is whether that's the only thing he is denying.
I believe in the footballing world, many players would love to play every single games. Crouch has voiced his concern about this before, so Bellamy isn't alone. And although Rafa's rotation policy has been controversial and frustrated a lot of people, including the fans and non-fans, his method has nonetheless brought glories. The first year he took charge, we won the Champions League. Next year, we won the FA Cup. Despite the biggest prize of all, the Premier League title, is still beyond us this season, one cup every season so far has proven that Rafa's method does work. At least, we are so much better off than under Houllier's era.
The problem with rotation policy is, to me, partly lies on the players. What i believe Rafa wants to build is a team that can play this specific style of football consistently with a squad that is well balanced. The advantages are players will be less troubled by fatigue, injury, and also avoid from becoming a one man team. Everyone contributes and almost equally excellent. If he can successfully gather a team like this, Liverpool FC will be a much more consistent and strong team. But then, there are players who can be very impatient and therefore affected their mentality and it's all written all over the footballing field.
Golfing...and then packing?
Bellamy is undoubtedly a good player, with a plenty of pace and a good footballing brain. But somehow similar to Djibril Cisse, they both lack patience and the mentality that perhaps Rafa seek as a player. Bellamy is prone to offsides, almost as often as Owen getting injured, and couldn't really do anything more than running and kicking the ball straight to the opponents. And the more he gets frustrated, the more he couldn't perform, moaning doesn't help. The fact that Kuyt is more preferred by Rafa doesn't necessarily goes down to Kuyt as a better striker, but more as a better team player. In my opinion, Bellamy has better ability than Kuyt, he could easily outperform Kuyt, if only he has the same attitude Kuyt shown on field. And so, it's not difficult to understand if fans welcome the idea of him leaving if he really wants to.
I don't think Liverpool under Rafa is the right place for Bellamy if he doesn't like the rotation system. So he should go if he wants to. It's definitely a shame that such a talented player couldn't be a legend for the Reds, but Liverpool FC is bigger than any individuals, we don't play for one player's good, the players play for the club's good.
Only 4 players from the first leg against Chelsea few days ago started today. Gerrard, Carra, Mascherano, Crouch, Reina, Agger are not even on the bench. Everyone predicted Rafa would definitely be resting the players, but i don't think anyone would come up with this lineup. I thought Gerrard would start, how naive!
The first half wasn't good, the defense was poor, so not much to complain with 2 goals down. Second half was better though, and we got a goal back to make the scoreline a bit more acceptable. Good old Hyypia is the scorer. He looked solid, but there's still doubts if he should start against Chelsea this coming Tuesday. He will not be outmuscled by Drogba, but the pace could be one problem. My money is still on Agger to start with Carra.
Not impressing...yet?
I think it is a cause for concern regarding Gonzalez. He has been quite consistently ineffective for a number of matches he played and one wonder if he really will get better. I like to believe he needs a bit more time to get used and mature in English games, but right now he is quite frustrating to see. I believe he will play the remaining league games though, as Rafa would like to let the fringe and young players to show what they can do just like today. Hopefully he will improve, otherwise a winger might due comes the summer.
I guess it's not a bad thing after all, to secure Champions League spot early and focus only on our 6th Champions League trophy. Losing matches like today may not look beautiful, but giving other players opportunity and resting the tired legs doesn't hurt. Let's just hope we can still grab the only trophy left and it will be a nice season.
On side note, the Mancs have just moved a step further into winning the Premier League with a comeback win against Everton, while Chelsea could only draw at home against Bolton. Now the gap is 5 points with 3 games to play for both teams. Unless Chelsea beat Mancs and hoping them to drop points in their remaining 2 matches, Mourinho would not be able to throw away any medal again this season (Well he can, provided he wins the FA Cup). It's quite interesting really, although i would certainly love if Liverpool were the one to be involved. Well next season definitely, definitely we should be there racing for the league title again. For now, let's take another Champions League trophy home!
Just a day after the senior team's 1-0 defeat at the Champions League semifinal, the youth team of Liverpool bring back the smiles for another FA Youth Cup triumph! And more importantly, it's done by beating the Mancs!
The Youth Cup final consists of two legs, home and away. The first leg was at Anfield, and we were behind 1-2. And last night the youngsters came back and score a goal that is more than enough to drag the match into extra time. And we end up victorious from penalty shootouts. And so Liverpool youth team defended their title as the youth champions!
It's a great joy for all Liverpudlians, and seeing that we have won the Youth Cup several times already, the next generation looks exciting! Rafa's youth system might prove working very well, and certainly not to forget Steve Heighway's effort in guiding the team to glory. A big thanks to him, and what a great farewell present from the boys, well done! You'll Never Walk Alone.
The future is looking very much bright.
Manchester United (2) 0 - 1 (2) Liverpool
Penalty shootout: 3 - 4
Manchester United: Ron-Robert Zieler, Richard Eckersley, Corry Evans (Scott Moffatt 99), Kenny Strickland, James Chester, Daniel Drinkwater (Antonio Bryan 72), Daniel Welbeck (Magnus Eikrem 87), Sam Hewson (c), Febian Brandy, Chris Fagan, Daniel Galbraith
Subs Not Used: Conor McCormack, Gary Woods
Liverpool: David Roberts, Stephen Darby, Michael Burns, Jay Spearing (c), Robbie Threlfall, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Ryan (Lee Woodward 95), Astrit Ajdarevic (Steven Irwin 81), Craig Lindfield, Ryan Flynn, Ray Putterill
Subs Not Used: Josh Mimms, Sean Highdale, Ben Parsonage
Five-time European champions Liverpool and Italian giants AC Milan booked their places in the last four of the Champion's League with wins over PSV Eindhoven and Bayern Munich respectively.
Liverpool's place in the semi-finals was never under threat courtesy of the 3-nil cushion carried from the 1st leg, but England striker Peter Crouch made sure of the Reds' progression by scoring the only goal of the game in the 67th minute.
The goal was setup by Robbie Fowler AKA "God" with an exquisite swivel and pass into the box after the Anfield hero had come on as a sub in the 17th minute due to an injury to Craig Bellamy.
Although manager Rafa Benitez had stressed to his troops before the game to remain focussed, the boss had enough confidence in his team to leave influential duo Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher on the bench.
Without the talismanic captain on the pitch, the Reds lacked drive despite never having to step up a gear throughout the match.
Liverpool now faces Chelsea again in a re-run of the semi-final of 2005 in which the Reds went onto win the famous trophy.
England can now guarantee at least one of its clubs from the Premier League will reach the final in Athens.
Italian giants AC Milan defeated Bayern Munich in the other quarter-final tie to book a berth in the semi-finals against Manchester United.
Milan scored twice in four minutes from Filippo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf to win the game (4-2 on aggregate).
Liverpool 0-1 Barcelona (Agg:2-2 Liverpool goes through on away goals rule)
Chelsea 2-1 Porto (Agg:3-2)
Lyon 0-2 Roma (Agg:0-2)
Valencia 0-0 Inter (Agg:2-2 Valencia progresses on the away goals rule)
SUMMARY:
The Mighty Reds are through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champion's League after knocking out reigning European champions Barcelona at Anfield early this morning (AEST).
Liverpool proved too good for Barcelona over the two matches and the Spanish side's famed attacking quartet of Ronaldinho, Deco, Messi and E'too simply could not breakdown a resilient Liverpool defence marshalled by the brilliant Jamie Carragher.
Barcelona knew they had their work cut out for the 2nd leg when Liverpool visited the Nou camp and left with a win and two vital away goals a fortnight ago.
However, it was Liverpool who dominated for much of the game and had plenty of chances to settle the tie in the first half when both John Arn Riise and Momo Sissoko rattled the cross bar.
In a last roll of the dice for Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, the Dutchman sent on Gudjohnsen in place of Thuram for the last 20 minutes and the move immediately paid dividends.
With Barca now effectively playing in a 4-2-4 formation, the Liverpool defence momentarily collapsed under the onslaught and allowed substitute Gudjohnsen to score in the 75th minute.
Liverpool were pinned back in their own half defending desperately but held onto progress through to the quarter finals by virtue of the away goals rule in what Jamie Carragher hailed as one of Liverpool's greatest European results.
Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett have clinched an historic £470million takeover of Liverpool FC.
Liverpool FC announced on Tuesday that the Board have agreed the terms of an offer for the Club from Mr George Gillett and Mr Tom Hicks and the Board are unanimously recommending that the Club’s shareholders accept this offer.
The American duo are serious sports fans and each owns a NHL ice hockey team.
Their offer which sealed the deal reported to be worth £5,000 per share, valuing the club at £174.1m, and along with the club's £44.8m debt it values the club at £218.9m.
Add to that the guaranteed investment of over £200m in the club by the pair for both team strengthening and the building of the club's new stadium in Stanley Park, sees the deal easily surpass the £400million mark.
Perhaps more importantly is that the new owners purchased the club with no debt, unlike fellow Americans the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United.
Co-owner George Gillett said: "This is truly the largest sport in the world, the most important sport in the world, and this is the most important club in the most important sport in the world and what a privilege we have to be associated with it."
Gillett also insisted that, though he and Hicks would be aiming for the club to return a profit, that was way down the list of priorities.
He said: 'If you put down the objectives, money would be no way near the top of the list, it would have winning, passion, heritage and legacy above that."
So, what does this mean for Liverpool FC as a football club?
There will finally be enough funds in the transfer kitty for Liverpool to bid for world class players and challenge other financial powerhouse clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United.
The building work on a new stadium will be given the green light and will provide the club with world class facilities.
Considering how many times take-over bids of Liverpool had fallen through in the past, I was taken by surprise at how quick things developed.
To read more about this historic take-over, visit the following links:
footballnotsoccer
Paladin
Hardy
KC Hill
techman
Graham Fisher
Andrew Aigner-Muehler
LukeS
Craig Hill
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