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Remember Harry Kewell ? He's back...
2007-10-12 10:39:00
Benitez has confirmed that the injury plagued player will be back training in a few days. When Kewell is on form, there can be no denying he's an excellent player with experience, who can pass, shoot, dribble and give us the penetration we need down either flank. Hopefully with his contract due to run out and claiming that he wants to stay with the Reds he will be very motivated to perform when given his chances. This should provide for some interesting competition between himself Babel, Pennant and Benayoun.Competition for every place is what Benitez has been striving towards and we're just about there now, hopefully our recent blip can be put aside and the Reds can march to the title come season end :-)
More About: Back , Harry , Well

Reds Starlet: Paul Anderson in demand
2007-10-11 13:22:00
The talented and very pacy young winger has turned in to a goal scoring machine since joining Swansea City on a season long loan, he's hit 6 goals already ! The Swansea Evening Post reports that Swansea City want to make the deal a permanent one, can't really blame them can you.Hopefully Liverpool FC won't let the 19 year old leave so soon, although he would command a seven figure transfer fee, we would be better off retaining him, maybe loan him out again next season to a Championship/Premiership side (League One is probably too easy for him). The resulting experience could do one of two things, either increase his transfer fee or better yet he may prove good enough to play for the Reds first team :-)
More About: Anderson , Paul , Demand

International injuries rear their ugly head
2007-10-11 10:27:00
It's the one thing I fear most whenever the international break comes up, that we might suffer a 'break' with one of our top stars. Fernando Torres picked up a knock to his left ankle and sat out yesterdays training session with Spain. While they expect him to be fit for Saturdays match, they concede that his situation will be reassessed for the friendly next week.Erm, that's nice but it's LFC who pay his wages whether injured or not, how about letting him sit out the Finland friendly (surely an easy win for Spain) to avoid aggravating the injury. That way we might have a fit and able Torres for our derby with Everton saturday week !
More About: International , Injuries , Head , Ugly , Rear

FIFA could open the door for Mascherano
2007-10-11 00:48:00
Thanks to the protracted wranglings over the Carlos Tevez transfer, FIFA decided yesterday that it was time to look at how restrictive third party (eg MSI) ownership of a player can hinder transfers. They haven't publicly revealed exactly what their proposed solution is going to be other than to say it will be "simple and effective".It's certainly no secret that LFC have an option with MSI to purchase the economic rights and player registration of Mascherano for £17 million before June 30 2008. However LFC will probably proceed with caution now that there's impending changes to be made to FIFAs regulations.Hopefully the less restrictive regulations will translate into a lower transfer fee making it easier for us to strengthen in other areas too.
More About: Open , Door , Fifa

Injured Kuyt might miss Everton game
2007-10-09 11:48:00
The Dutch FA confirmed yesterday that Dirk Kuyt will miss both their games (Romania & Slovakia) due to pulling his hamstring. If he's going to be missing for both games then I doubt it's a minor strain so I can't see him making the derby next week. Everton have also lost a striker, Andrew Johnson will be out for a month after going under the knife on his ankle.Given our strength in squad depth, losing a striker has much less impact for LFC than for Everton, however, if the lads don't get their act together soon enough it won't matter what team we field on the day !
More About: Game , Miss , Vert

What's with booing the Reds at Anfield ?
2007-10-08 09:14:00
Granted the lads have hardly been deserving a round of applause lately but whatever happened to "You'll Never Walk Alone". It's the clubs moto, something many of us have been brought up believing in since we were little kids.Remember Istanbul, pubs were still packed (certainly in Ireland) at 3-0 and full of YNWA being sung and everyone getting behind the team, that's how it should be (we didn't exactly play well that night either).Moving on to present day and people don't seem to be getting behind the Reds anymore, what a shame ! Genuine title contenders is what I think we should all justifiably expect from Liverpool, given the vast sums of money spent on players and the time Rafa has had to build a complete squad. At the same time we should to continue to support the team through thick and thin.
More About: Anfield

No need to panic, at least not yet !
2007-10-07 19:56:00
The Reds mini-crisis shows little sign of abating, but at least we managed to score a couple of goals today, only to conceed a couple from a childhood Red (Keano) due to some defensive lapses.It's not unusual for teams (including the eventual champions) to go through bad patches and hopefully we'll get back on track soon enough, as in really soon ! We've got a derby coming up, followed by a tricky game against Besiktas and of course then on to Arsenal who are on fire at the moment.Comprehensive victories against these teams will go a long way to restoring my traditional early season optimism. Its still early days yet, so I don't think the league is beyond us but we do need to string together some excellent performances to remain in contention for the title.
More About: Panic

Liverpool's problem is one of motivation
2007-10-04 10:58:00
Liverpool's form since Paco left has been truly abysmal, the players collectively go from one lack lustre display to another. Paco was the players conduit to the manager and the one person brave enough to say no to Rafa.Publicly the players say they support Rafa but there's only a machine like emotion free communication between Rafa and them. Rafa may very well be a tactical genius but his people skills are lacking. It's all good and well having lots of great players but we need someone who can motivate them, shame none of them seem to be able to stand up and be counted by themselves !I'm a believer in the rotation system when you have the right players (we do), but I'm a much bigger believer in good motivators (we lack one) and its neglecting that aspect which will cost us the big trophies this year !
More About: Motivation , Problem , Liver

The Reds secret sauce has been revealed
2007-10-03 14:00:00
I can't help but wonder what trade secrets Cisse & Zenden have revealed to their new club. Many companies these days have their employees sign NDA's to prevent them talking the talk once they leave. If only LFC would follow suit as Benitez himself has voiced his concerns over their knowledge.I fear Marseille are by now fully aware that we change our team every single game and are prepared for the unexpected. Damn, there goes that element of surprise I was hoping for, that little cutting edge we'd require to beat them at home. Normally I'm a proponent of rotation but perhaps tonight whats needed is a little unpredictability, we should play the same team as our last game !
More About: Secret , Reds , Sauce , Has Been

His Lordship returns to Anfield tomorrow
2007-10-02 11:57:00
Former club record signing Djibril Cisse is set to return to Anfield tomorrow night with Marseille, he's apparently concerned that the anfield faithful will boo him ! I'm no psychologist but I reckon the best way to ensure that doesn't happen is to NOT score against Liverpool ;-)He says it will be an emotional experience for him to meet and play against his former teammates, thats ok Cisse, we understand, again please don't score !The man of many hairdos never did quite cut it at Anfield, but let's not kid ourselves he has bags of pace and is well capable of scoring, something to which Hyypia recently attested (he spent 2 years marking him in training).Former LFC players often feel a point to prove upon returning to Anfield and subsequently up their game, "break a leg" Cisse ;-)
More About: Tomorrow , Morrow , Tomo

Why no uproar when Yossi doesn't start ?
2007-09-30 16:03:00
For some reason the media isn't attacking Rafa's rotation system again, this despite another boring game, which required the intervention of Benayoun to rescue Liverpool from drawing with Wigan. Had Torres (who had several chances to score) been left on the bench and introduced later on to score the winner, I'll bet the media would've gone ballistic!Benayoun is starting to show us what he's capable of, with a couple of stunning goals in a matter of days. With motivation seemingly lacking amongst the Reds of late, Yossi's introduction against Wigan gave the team a bit of a lift.His performances of late should hopefully mean he gets more and more chances to showcase his class and creativity, something which we need given that the rest of the lads aren't performing to their potential !
More About: Start , Roar

The Third Coming of Robbie Fowler
2007-09-29 18:41:00
Well what were the odds of Liverpool drawing Cardiff City in the next round of the Carling Cup ? The great thing about it is that it gives Robbie Fowler the chance of a brief return to Anfield and no doubt he will get a rousing welcome.When I originally heard he was joining Cardiff, I assumed the next time we would see him at Anfield would be in several years time for one of those Anfield legends games. So it will be great to see him again so soon (hope he doesn't score, he's on form with 4 goals from 5 games!!).
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Gerardo Bruna signs for Liverpool
2007-09-29 18:29:00
Dubbed the new Lionel Messi, Gera rd o Bruna has shunned signing professional forms with Real Madrid and opted to join Liver pool instead (similar fashion to how Cesc Fabregas joined Arsenal).The 16 year old argentinian is half spanish and has an EU passport so he won't require a work permit to join Liverpool. The talented midfielder was very highly rated by Real Madrid and arrives with a big reputation.He will probably be one of the few youth players who is capable of making the step up to the first team but it'll be another couple of years before we find out.For more information on youth players and/or transfers, check out the 'My Anfield Labels' on the left hand side ;-)
More About: Signs

Hardly a revelation for the Kop
2007-09-27 16:00:00
Anfield Road didn't even rank in the top 20 for best european stadiums in a recent poll by Drivers Jonas Sports, however when our new Anfield Stadium is finished in a couple of years I reckon we'll take the top spot from Man Utd there.The unsurprising news from the survey though is that Anfield has the best atmosphere of any European stadium, once the new anfield stadium is completed that atmosphere will become even better.Thanks to the design ingenuity of the new Kop, sound will continue to reverberate around the Kop even when people stop singing, that combined with several thousand more Kopites should make for an awesome atmosphere :-)
More About: Revelation

Clumsy Crouchie needs to cop on
2007-09-27 10:37:00
It's not exactly a secret that referee's in the Premiership let players get away with murder (figuratively speaking of course) compared with their counterparts in other European leagues or international football. It's not as if Crouchie is the cleanest player out there, arms and legs seem to envelope any player that comes near him, looks very clumsy to say the least.So now he's all worried that he will have to adapt his game to the international scene, is that not the same for all the other Premiership players who have to switch from 'physical mode' to something a little more elegant such as actually playing football. If only he would just cop on and quit whinging about it.
More About: Clumsy , Needs

Will Gerrard live in the shadow of Torres ?
2007-09-26 01:21:00
Or will Gerrard rise Phoenix like ? You could write a book about 'Stevie Me' and his overblown ego and immaturity, no wait he already did that for us ;-)How many times over the years has he moaned about having a better team, players worthy of his presence etc. In Torres we have someone capable of overshadowing Gerrard. Torres has again showed great intelligence, skill, strength, speed and excellent finishing prowess (what a hat trick against Reading). It'll be interesting to see how Gerrard responds (he's used to the media focusing on only him), I'm hoping it will help him grow and develop into one of the truly great team players in the game. Time for 'Stevie We'. The great Live rpool teams of the past always had several amazing 'team players' and thats the direction I hope and feel we're heading in again :-)
More About: Shadow

Benayoun follows in the footsteps of giants
2007-09-26 00:58:00
A while ago I joked about how all we needed was for Benayoun to carry on the new boys tradition (Voronin, Torres, Babel) of scoring superb first goals for Liverpool. Against Reading he didn't disappoint and went on an excellent run before smashing the ball into the roof of the net, what a goal !As for Hobbs, he didn't get quite the debut expected (pitiful few minutes), Leto and Leiva showed some lovely touches, Itandje was a mixed bag with some excellent saves but at fault for Reading's second goal.With Pennant in such good form I imagine it'll be a while before we get to see Benayoun again, shame given his sheer class and creativity, but with Benitez you just never know what team he'll pick on the day.
More About: Giants , Steps

The Reds youngsters might shine tonight
2007-09-25 10:28:00
Say what you want about the Carling Cup but at least it gives the younger fringe players a chance to prove their worth. Tonight we should get to see several in action, I for one can't wait to see how they perform, there's always been something exciting about watching a new player break through at Anfield, sadly it's not happened under Rafa just yet.Jack Hobbs has been highly rated from day one and he gets his debut tonight (along with Itandje in goal). Leto, Leiva, Insua and El Zhar are also bound to play at some stage, I've only seen these guys in reserve games so far (and they're impressive), hope they play to their potential tonight :-)
More About: Shine , Reds

Why become a one man team again ?
2007-09-24 13:44:00
It's sad so much of the media rounds on Benitez for leaving Torres out against Birmingham. It's not like Voronin and Kuyt aren't more than capable against a team of Birmingham's quality (they just didn't perform). Torres is only used to playing 40 games per season, we can't all of a sudden expect him to step up to 60 odd games played at a faster pace, therefore it makes sense to rest him from that perspective (shame Benitez focused on tactics in his explanation).Everytime results don't go our way will the focus be on rotation (we have the squad to make it work) or leaving out Torres. The last thing I want is for Liverpool to become a one man team again, this season we actually have a decent squad and I hope for more of a team focus in the future.
More About: Team

Rafa needs to address the human dimension
2007-09-23 13:58:00
Liverpool's form has dropped immeasureably since Paco Ayesteran left the club a few weeks. The one thing which Paco offered the players was an outlet, he developed good relationships with them.Benitez may be technically brilliant, but he reputedly views them as mere pawns (Guilleme Balague on Sky) and has no interest in developing good relationships with them. What concerns me a little is, who is going to take over the role as trusted advisor to the players. It's something which they need.It might be asking too much for a leopard to change his spots, but with Benitez being a self confessed 'loner with a laptop', perhaps he could start blogging as a means to try communicate more with his players ;-) Joking aside, we need someone with excellent people skills to act as a conduit for the team. But who ?
More About: Human , Dimension , Address , Dime , Mens

Just what are the Reds playing at ?
2007-09-22 22:21:00
I think it's high time for a little perspective. We've played 6 league games now, and if you exclude the goal rush at Derby, we've really only averaged 1 goal per game. Each year the optimist in me likes to think, feel and believe that this will be our year. The pragmatist in me realises that after only so many games yet another false dawn has occured.While the media might round on Rafa's rotation policy, this year I've been agreeing with Rafa and today I can't fault his decision to drop Torres (only my rational would have been based on his inept midweek performance).Despite all the new faces, its the same old LFC, the new attacking philosphy has yet to materialise. Mostly the players just don't look like they want it enough. The raw talent is there, but what will it take to motivate them ?
More About: Reds

Football managers are funny little things
2007-09-21 16:50:00
Childish temper tantrums and throwing their toys out of their prams are common place amongst the footballing elite. Witness the rivalries of Ferguson & Wenger, Benitez & Mourinho over the last few years.It never ceases to amaze me how easily wound up these guys get with the silly (sometimes entertaining) mind games they play with each other. Half the time I feel these guys are seconds away from blurting out, "I'm telling my mom".So with Mourinho's departure I was half expecting to get a nugget or two from Benitez. But nope nothing he declines to comment, other managers were content to 'pay their respects' to the man, but not Rafa who may as well have given him the finger in the process ;-)
More About: Funny , Football , Things , Managers , Ager