Rafa wakes up! Crouch on his way out!

For the love of Robbie Fowler it looks as if Rafa has seen the light. In this article, it is revealed that Rafa is looking to dump the useless striker in the January window due to Crouch's attitude towards the gaffer's rotation policy and his recent dreadful performance versus Marseilles where he was clearly a detriment to our side.

Can today get any better? Johnny Wilkinson leads England to the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup with a stunning upset of Australia, Paul Anderson scores another goal, and now it looks as if our biggest (and tallest) problem might have found a solution.

I'm not sure if Crouch has the power to block a move though. I believe he can refuse, but if I was Rafa, I'd put the lanky waste of space on the Reserves squad and have him rot on the bench there.

One thing that baffles me is Crouch saying he loves playing for Liverpool, though won't sign a contract extension. If he's not doing so due to monetary reasons, that's fine, but it doesn't give him the right to throw matches. Another reason may be because he knows it's more likely that he'll be transferred if he gets tied down to a long term deal. He's gone anyhow, and like I've said in previous posts, if they don't sell him in January, maybe it's time for a managerial change.

Sell him to Portsmouth where the other shady footballers roam. He and David James can go casino hopping with Harry Redknapp. I don't care what they do with him, just as long as he never wears a kit again. Oh, and by the way, if he does get the opportunity to play for us again, expect him to play well and then if you need more of a reason to roll your eyes, go find another club to support.

One more point before I go celebrate England's World Cup win. Rafa mentions he'll have around £20m to spend in the January window. I'm not sure if that includes what we'll get for Crouch or not, which will probably be over £10m. Time to start shopping for another striker and a centre back. Cheers.

Paul Anderson with another

There's no stopping Paul Anderson these days. The 19-year-old on-loan winger at Swansea scored his third league goal and his fifth overall of the season today as the Swans crushed League One leaders Leyton Orient, 5-0. It is the second straight match in which the Leicester product has netted. Their next match is a week from tomorrow when they face Bournemouth in league play.

Also former Red Neil Mellor scored for the first time this season for Preston North End as his side fell, 1-2, to Ipswich Town. The iconoclastic striker, who was voted 90th in the Players Who Shook the Kop vote despite only playing 16 matches in a Liverpool kit, came on as a second-half sub to cut the lead in half with a converted penalty in the 88th minute.

Finally, Robbie Fowler helped lead Cardiff City to their first league victory in a month, though they are now undefeated in their last four, the previous three being draws. Fowler and fellow geriatric teammate, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, both failed to score, but the Bluebirds still beat Burnley, 2-1, at Ninian Park. The side now sits at 13th in the Championship, the same place they finished last season. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Tottenham: What will Rafa do?

Screw Rafa. He'll probably put out the usual boring, recycled line-up that he usually does, same players, different names. This post is about what I would do. So here we go.

Let's start up front where I would pair Babel with Kuyt. Babel hasn't played in the last three games and I'm sure is itching to get back on the pitch. He says he wants the opportunity to play forward, so let's see what he can do. Kuyt is a given, but he needs to end his current streak of futility.

At midfield on the left I would start Aurelio. He didn't look very comfortable at left back during the Marseilles match and constantly played forward, so let's see what he can do starting there. In the middle, I'd pair Gerrard and Mascherano. No explanation required and on the right, JP, who should be well-rested after his imposed Champions League night off.

At left back, I'd go with Riise. He and Aurelio can switch off on who goes ahead and who stays back on attack. My centre backs would be Carra and Arbeloa, who got his first night off of the year Wednesday. Finally, Finnan gets the call on the right and Pepe is the only keep for me.

There you have it.

Reina
Riise
Carra
Arbeloa
Finnan
Aurelio
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Babel

My bench:
Itandje
Hyypia
Benayoun
Sissoko
Torres

We really miss Agger and Alonso, hopefully they, along with Kewell, will return soon.

All this talk of having to win is rubbish. If we have to start talking about winning then there's something wrong with the ideology being instilled in our players. We should expect to win and not have to talk about. It should part of the club culture and instilled in the players that wear the kit. It worries me when I hear such notions.

Today's Banter: Ladies lose derby, Pennant excluded from England again, Babel wants striker role, & more

- Like the saying goes, 'It's only gonna get a whole lot worse before it's gonna get any better.' Those words seem to be a fair representation of what our beloved club is going through at the moment. Yesterday, just to add a glacier to the well put-out fire, the Ladies lost 2-1 to Everton in league play. Despite taking a 1-0 lead, our girls couldn't hold on as two strikes in two minutes in the second half were enough to lead the lady Toffees to the victory. Next up is a League Cup clash with Leeds United on Sunday in Skelmersdale.

- Steve McClaren snubbed Jermaine Pennant again for an England spot for the Three Lions Euro qualifiers later this month. I understand JP wants to play for his country, but honestly, there is just too much baggage going on in the England camp to make me give a rat's arse about his exclusion. Concentrate on your Liverpool game, lad. Unfortunately, Steven Gerrard will never be excluded from an England side.

- Ryan Babel, who just recently was found under a rock in the Sahara, thinks he is best suited as a central striker. He appears to be patient to get his opportunity to play there and is content playing a wing position. I'll put my shyness to the side here and say put him in the rotation in front of Crouch as soon as Harry Kewell gains fitness. Of course, who knows when that'll happen.

- I found this article about Rafa desiring a show of character for the Tottenham match a bit peculiar. He claims it's a call to have us improve ourselves from the dreadful Marseilles performance. I say it's a call to have all the rumored nonsense going on behind closed doors put to an end. There have been rumblings of discontent about certain players voicing their unhappiness with more than just the squad rotation. Let's just hope Rafa puts certain players aside and puts out a squad that's just happy to be on a great club come Sunday.

Is Ryan Babel the new Harry Kewell?

Okay, so maybe that's taking it a little too far, but someone needs to put an APB out for him. The 20-year-old Dutch winger has been conspicuously absent from the pitch in our last three matches although he was on the bench for yesterday's debacle. Maybe he has been hanging out with the invisible Aussie.

Anyhow, we could have probably used his pace and quickness against Marseilles last night. I like Leto, but he's just not ready. I wonder if Babel might have a slightly injury or Rafa may think he's getting burnt out? Maybe he's working on his website? Well, if he doesn't play against Tottenham on Sunday, I'll be surprised.

I'm a bit surprised there's be no rotation rubbish over him. Come on you muppets, you missed out on the Benayoun rotation spew. We spent over £10m for the kid! Seize the day!

Congrats to Steve Nicol

I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate Stevie Nicol on leading his club, the New England Revolution, to victory in the US Open Cup final last night. What's even more impressive is they did so by beating FC Dallas on the opposition's home field. The 45-year-old former Liverpool back has been at the helm with the MLS-side for 5 years now and has finally brought silverware to the club. It was the first time in the team's history that they've won anything despite making it to the MLS Cup final three times, including the last two years under Nicol, and the US Open Cup final once before.

The ignorant have spoken: Blame Rafa's rotation policy

The broken record continues to play. Not surprising though, the people who continue to voice that Rafa's rotation policy is to blame for every little thing that goes wrong with Liverpool do so because of countless reasons. It's the popular thing to do and they make money from saying so, it stirs the less emotionally stable Liverpool fan, and furthermore, it would actually require intelligence to think different. All one can do is laugh at the puppet show.

Take Who Ate all the Pies?, a site I refuse to link because their motives are purely monetary and their content is predominantly frivolous. They bash Liverpool at any and every opportunity because they know it'll lure the Man U and Chelsea zombies to them. (Now they've added a Liverpool site so they can have their cake and eat it too.)

So what has this waste of space site posted today? What do you think? A post written with the brain power of a six-year-old Neanderthal blaming Rafa's rotation for our loss yesterday. Let's ignore what actually happened on the field and just do what's popular to get hits and increase our intake, why don't we?

They justify their conclusion by saying that Rafa should have played Mascherano instead of Sissoko. Hindsight truly is 20-20. They just knew that Sissoko would play so poorly because, well, they are both geniuses and portentous. Mascherano is consistently better than Sissoko, I'll admit that, but the Argentine was certainly not fit to wear the shirt in the Porto match. Plus Sissoko has shown vast improvement over last year and will only continue to do so if given the opportunity.

So the muppets have spoken, shared their infinite wisdom, and exposed the reach of their original thought. Just the fact that they don't even mention Crouch should set off alarms. Maybe they didn't even watch the match, wouldn't surprise me. One really has to wonder how far the tentacle reaches up their ass and what cookie jar the octopus' other arms reach. God bless Frank Norris.

(Come to think of it, they're right. I blame Rafa's rotation policy for allowing Crouch to play.)

Today's Banter: Backlash from our first loss

As you probably would expect, most the news coming out of Anfield is about our 1-0 loss to Marseilles yesterday in Champions League play. What doesn't surprise me is that Rafa is not sharing his true opinion of the match. Why should he? There's no reason to give the English press more fodder to spin.

The only Benitez statement of remote truth that made print was him saying the Besiktas match in three weeks was now a must-win. I don't necessarily agree with him, but I do think it will make things a lot easier. Just as long as he doesn't play Crouch we have a chance.

I definitely disagree with him saying that's the worse home performance we've had since he's taken over. In Europe, maybe, but certainly the Carling Cup match with Arsenal last year comes to mind. Also, I don't think the whole team was bad and I do think singling out one player in particular is absolutely warranted.

Whether intentional or not, Crouch was atrocious yesterday. He played as if he was the star of the team, which he is not, and acted as if he was the only one in red on the field. He played out-of-position nearly the entire match and made a point of disrupting the forward flow of the ball whenever possible. Myself and others have already alluded to him possibly having ulterior motives, but despite that, he's just not good enough for our side. If Rafa doesn't sell him in the January window, maybe it's time to find a new manager as well.

I don't understand why people are so blind to Crouch's ways. He clearly was out of position the entire match. Intentional or not, it was mind-numbing. Is it because Tommy Smyth cajoled over the lanky striker? Listen, Tommy Smyth has his reasons and none of them are for the benefit of the club. The fact that he turned on Gerrard in the first ten minutes, before Gerrard was even able to get many touches on the ball is just laughable.

I usually listen to the sound off when I watch matches, particularly because of the commentators trying to manipulate what's actually happening on the field. The only reason I put up with it yesterday was because I was watching it with others.

Throughout the match Smyth was trying to get the viewers to feel sorry for Crouch by saying he's being mistreated at Liverpool due to Rafa's rotation. Rubbish. Crouch has been part of the side for over two years now, he knows Benitez is going to rotate and has yet to ask for a transfer. In fact, he has made statements in the past year or so saying he wants to remain at the club.

My favorite part is when Smyth appealed not to get on Crouch for his poor performance toward the end of the match because he has worked so hard. As if hard work is commendable if it doesn't accomplish anything. You can train a monkey to wash dishes, but if he keeps breaking them, purposely or not, what's the point? Also, I'd like Smyth to tell me who on our side didn't work hard. It's not as if we didn't want to win. Well, at least most of our players.

Tommy Smyth is either an idiot, which I highly doubt, or he has ulterior motives, of which I refuse to speculate. You either see the forest for the trees or you're just another blind man walking through a busy intersection. All right, I've said enough on the subject, Tottenham can't come quick enough. Cheers.

Analyzing Crouch's duplicitous behavior in the Marseilles match

Accusing someone of throwing a match is very serious and I would never do so unless I believed it beyond a doubt. Crouch's erratic play is beyond just having a bad day once-in-a-while. It's gotten to the point where he has a good day once-in-a-while and that's just simply unacceptable. Why he is still at Liverpool, I refuse to speculate, but after his performance today, no one can question Rafa not wanting to play him. If I was the manager, he'd be relegated to ball boy.

First, let's look what his motive might be. First thing that comes to mind is playing time. It's no secret that Crouch isn't happy with Rafa's rotation especially since it seems that Torres is not necessarily part of it. One may try to argue that he's not playing enough to be the best player he can be. Oh really, than explain the Arsenal match from last year when he had a hat-trick? Due to injury, he hadn't played for us in over a month. Furthermore, explain his success with England. Does he play for the Three Lions week in and week out? No. He just happens to play well when he wants to.

Underlying playing time could very well be the motive of money, for if Crouch would go elsewhere and feature more, that club would probably be required to pay the lanky striker more since his playing time would increase. Not to mention the endorsement deals he would be more likely to get if he was the star striker of the side. I'll quit the motive aspect while I'm ahead and before I get personal, but we all know life is more complex than black and red.

His performance speaks for itself. If you were a striker on Liverpool and you wanted to have the most negative influence on a game, what would you do? You'd stand in the middle of the field and try to distract any ball movement, especially passes between the two best players on the club, Gerrard and Torres. And what did Crouch do today? Exactly that.

Nearly every time he touched the ball, he turned it over or he passed it back. At one point Torres laid off the ball to him and took off down the field. El Nino had tons of space and was wide open and what did Crouch do? He turned around and passed the ball back. Not unbelievable, intentional.

I mentioned in my review of the match that Crouch (and everyone else who's ever watched the grown-up version of Mike Teavee play) knows his physical limitations and knows his role on the field. He's not a distributing forward. He's not good with the ball over three touches. He by no means has any chance whatsoever of dribbling the ball past even the most inept opponent and he's not an idiot, he's complete aware of his faults and weaknesses.

So you can lie to yourself all you want, live in Candyland, eat gold-flavored ice cream and play with your very bestest invisible friend to your sweet little heart's desire, but the people who live in reality know that matches are fixed and players throw matches. Don't believe me? Have fun. Peter Crouch's actions today lead me to believe he threw the match, there's just no other explanation.

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 1

Ha ha ha, what a joke. Somebody got their fix on. Not to take anything away from Marseilles, but it took a wonder goal, three non-called handballs, and two very questionable yellow cards to beat us. Not to mention Crouch might as well have been wearing blue.

As a team we made some vast improvements in the second half and were really unlucky not to score. Well, I take that back, we were unlucky that Marseilles was allowed to use their hands in the box. Ridiculous, but oh well, we expect others to cheat against us, it's usually the only way we get beat in Champions League play.

The yellow cards on Carra and Gerrard were just ridiculous. Gerrard clearly got to the ball prior to contact and if it was for the viciousness of the tackle, I'm so sorry that he couldn't stop himself from sliding on the wet pitch. As for Carra, he was turning to go for the ball and obstructed the path of the Marseilles player. Foul? Yes. Yellow card? Not even close. Those cards took Stevie-G and Carragher off their game because now they had to be cautious just in case the official wanted to give them a second yellow for another minor infraction. Money well spent.

Crouch was horrid. He knows that he's a forward and not a midfielder, so why was he sitting out of position for most of the match? He knows he can't outrun anyone and isn't quick-footed, so why is he holding on to the ball? He's no candidate for Mensa, but he's not that dumb. Put him in the reserves, Rafa. The only thing he was working hard to do was throw the match.

Sissoko put on a baffling display as well. It seems he's returned to his make a great stop or tackle and then throw the ball away routine. Mascherano should have been brought in for him, but maybe in the end it will be better for Momo's confidence.

As for the rest of the team, like I said, we played much better in the second half, almost on cue. We used more of the field, we stopped trying the long ball to Torres so much, our passing overall got better, and we actually tried to make things happen. We were just unlucky not to put the ball in the net.

In the end, I'm sort of glad we lost. Maybe now we'll get off our asses early in matches and try to score instead of waiting around for something to happen. We need to take more risks. We have the talent to score, so why not risk a quick counter goal. They way we played today is not going to scare anyone, all their going to do is sit ten men behind the ball and dare us to do something different.

Liverpool 0, Marseilles 0: halftime thoughts

Blah, blah, blah, same old crap. We look unmotivated, disorganized, are failing to use the flanks, and our spacing is horrid (especially Torres and Crouch).

First things first, someone needs to tell Crouch he's not a midfielder. If anyone should be playing that role, it's Torres. El Nino is much better on the ball and doesn't throw it away as much as Crouchy. El Girafe needs to get his ass as forward as possible where he isn't in other people's way and he can use his height more effectively. Other than that, he is a waste.

Second, Gerrard and Sissoko need to figure who's going to play what? Is Gerrard the attacking midfielder or is Momo? Is Momo the holding/defensive midfielder or is Gerrard? Sort it out boys because you're making yourselves look stupid. Switching up is obviously not working.

Finally, when our backs go forward it seems to confuse our midfielders. They look as if they don't know what they want to do. None of them have really played all that bad, they just don't seem as if they are communicating with one another.

It sort of looks like we expected to come out and just walk over them without trying and our boys should know much better than that. Stop trying the bloody long ball to Torres, that only works if the other side has pushed forward when they need a goal.

This lackadaisical approach is getting old, we don't even have a decent shot on goal. Patience is one thing, laziness is another.

If I were Benitez, I'd take out Sissoko for Mascherano and tell Crouch to either stop trying to throw the match or be permanantly out of the rotation loop. At this point, he's liability to the team.

EDIT: The Gerrard card was bullocks, btw.

Liverpool vs Marseille: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Leto (--------->)
Sissoko
Gerrard
Benayoun
Torres
Crouch

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Riise
Babel
Voronin
Kuyt
Mascherano

Leto to start! Can't wait. Babel must be in the dawg house with Benitez. I'm really surprised to see Sissoko start over Mascherano, it must mean that Rafa wants our attacking shoes on. This one should be fun. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Marseilles: What will Rafa do?

Well to start off Crouch, Babel, and Finnan didn't play in the league match at Wigan so I expect all three to start here. Also Pennant is unavailable, so scratch him, and Reina will definitely get the call.

The other defenders I expect to join Stevie-F are Carra and Hyypia in the middle and Aurelio on the left. I expect Riise and Arbeloa to start from the bench only because they can provide coverage for multiple positions. Riise can play anywhere on the left and provide an attacking spark if needed while Arbeloa can cover all four backline positions.

In the midfield along with Babel, I expect Stevie-G and Mascherano to start at central mid and Benayoun to start on the right. I could possibly see Riise starting on the right and Babel starting at forward as well. You never know with Rafa. I doubt we'll see Leto start on the left though.

Up front, who knows? We could see Torres, Babel, or Voronin paired with Crouch. My guess would be Voronin, but nothing else would surprise. I highly doubt Kuyt will get the call as he has played less than efficient recently.

So here's my final guess:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carra
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Babel
Crouch

Bench:
Itandje
Lucas
Leto
Aurelio
Torres
Voronin
Sissoko

I had a little fun with this one and I don't expect to be right, but what the heck. As you can tell I changed my mind a lot. I'm sure Rafa is licking his chops for when Agger, Xabi, and Kewell get back.

Today's Banter: Cisse injured?, Benitez demands defense improve, Fabio wants love, & more

- Apparently Cisse was injured in practice at some point in the last couple of days and may or may not be able to go tonight. I'll be shocked if he isn't at least on the bench. I expect him to start though and I'm not playing this up to mind games, but it wouldn't surprise me.

- Despite the fact that it's been thirty years since we've allowed less goals in league play and that we've yet to concede a goal from open play with Pepe in the net, Rafa still demands improvement on the defense. I have to agree. We were lucky not to allow a goal against Wigan. When Agger comes back, it'll be a lot easier though.

- Fabio Aurelio wants to repay the fans for their loyalty. The first Brazilian ever to play for Liverpool, Aurelio has finally returned from a devastating knee injury he got against PSV last April. Going into that match, the 28-year-old was showing signs of improvement and finally adjusting to the English game. I think the big thing with him was patience on the ball. Early on he tried to force things, but as he got more relax, his skill and style really came through. I just hope he doesn't revert back to his old ways.

Some more links to digest as we wait to take on Marseilles:
- Kudos to this fellow American blog for banning the Sun
- Bolo believes Rafa can lead us to the Premiership title
- Does Fernando Torres have obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Both Paul Anderson & Robbie Fowler scored today

Paul Anderson scored again for League One side, Swansea, in their 2-1 win over Swindon Town. The 19-year-old Leicester product is out on loan to the Swans for the season. It was his fourth overall goal for the club this season and his second in league play.

Robbie Fowler also netted. The former Liverpool Legend turned Cardiff City striker scored a penalty in the 45th minute of their match with Sheffield United. The Bluebirds eventually went up 3-1, but weren't able to hold on to the lead and had to settle for a 3-3 draw.

Finally, the Reserves lost to Sunderland, 1-0, with a side that was without Sebastian Leto nor Lucas. Maybe that means we'll see them tomorrow? According to the report from the official site, our boys were unlucky not to score a few times against the more experienced Black Cats side. Cheers.

Bolo knows our secrets

I couldn't help but laugh after reading this article from the official site. Not that it probably isn't true that Zenden will be able to provide 'inside information' about our side to Marseilles, but Bolo did a poor job carrying out and participating in such tactics while in a Liverpool shirt. Unless turning over the ball incessantly and dribbling the ball out of bounds were a big part of the game plan.

I really don't understand why Rafa would even say such a thing. One could play it up to 'mind games' but what benefit does that play? To make Marseilles think we're worried that Bolo knows the super secrets of Rafa's playbook? Please, we're going to play a 4-4-2 and I can only recall only one 'trick' play that we've used successfully in the past year and that was Daniel Agger's goal versus Chelsea. Having the wingers switch sides is not really a tactic and if we have any other movement schemes, we do a well enough job of making them neither noticeable nor effective.

If Rafa bothers to change things, great, but he won't be doing it because of Bolo.

Today's Banter: Gerrard hits kid, Fearing Cisse, Fans not charged at Wigan clash, & more

- If you haven't heard yet, Stevie-G hit a kid while driving his Bentley in Merseyside yesterday afternoon. The 10-year-old is believed to have suffered a broken leg. Gerrard immediately stopped his vehicle and comforted the lad until medics arrived. Eyewitnesses reported that the boy ran out from between two parked cars and into the side of Gerrard's Bentley, leaving our captain with no control over the incident. A 'visibly upset' Stevie-G was not charged with any infraction and vowed to visit the boy in the hospital.

- Hyypia has warned that former teammate Djibril Cisse will be difficult to contain tomorrow when his side comes to Anfield for their Champions League meeting. The Finn believes the 26-year-old Frenchman will be especially eager to beat his old club and that the Reds need to raise their game to stop him from scoring. The good news is Hyypia and Carra have plenty of experience marking the Marseilles striker.

- If you were at or watched the Wigan match last Saturday, you may have noticed a ruckus in the stands shortly after Benayoun's goal. Apparently some Liverpool fans had seats in the home section and when they celebrated the goal, they were attacked by a group of Wigan supporters. Reportedly two LFC followers were badly beaten. Eight Reds supporters were arrested along with two Wigan fans, though no charges have been filed against the former.

- John Arne Riise got a shock when teenagers in the Anti-Tobacco Youth Campaign created a picture of what the 27-year-old would look like had he taken up smoking as a teenager. Obviously it wasn't a pretty picture as the Norwegian, who's father died of lung cancer, has vowed to help prevent teenagers from picking up the awful habit.

- As you can tell from the pic above, Jamie Carragher has decided to rejoin England. Just kidding. Actually Carra was back home in Bootle to help open the new Northfield Sports Association clubhouse. The 29-year-old Liverpool legend stuck around for an hour to sign autographs and talk to fans. Cheers and 'What will Rafa do?' coming up later.

The official site is celebrating Halloween a little early

Two things on the front page of the official site, Liverpoolfc.tv, are giving me the chills. First, Pepe Reina looks like a cold-blooded vampire who's spotted a fresh drink of blood. Seriously, he's got crazy eyes. Also, if you click on the related article, 'Pepe proud to equal record', he thanks everyone in the defense for helping him achieve the clean sheet record except Jamie Carragher! Probably just a typo.

The other thing that's a bit creepy is the pictures of Beşiktaş J.K.'s stadium accommodations for visiting fans. They look like a seating section for an insane asylum with high white fences that drastically intrude the view of the pitch. There's just no way in hades that I would go to that match and sit in that cage. I understand other Turkey clubs (ha, no pun intended) visiting and their fans causing problems, but that just won't happen with our supporters. You'd think they'd have movable fencing or something of the sort for such occasions so they don't look like a country of barbarians.

Steven Gerrard hits kid with Bentley

Stevie-G was 'visibly upset' after hitting a ten-year-old boy while driving along Grantham Road in Birkdale earlier today. Apparently Jamie Hellawell, the young victim, ran out from between two parked cars and into the side of Gerrard's Bentley. Eyewitnesses claim there was little our captain could do to prevent it.

Stevie comforted the boy until the medics arrived. Hellawell was admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a broken leg among other minor injuries. Stevie-G vowed to visit the lad tomorrow. I think if I were a ten-year-old, Steven Gerrard would probably be one of my top choices to hit me with a car. Hopefully he's not an Everton fan.

I'm hoping this doesn't distract Stevie-G on Wednesday when he squares off against Marseille in Champions League action. Hopefully he'll promise the kid a goal or something and then go on a rampage.

Should Harry Kewell get a contract extension?

Word out of Anfield is Harry Kewell (Remember him?) is looking to stay on a couple of more years after his contract expires. The 29-year-old Aussie played a total of 77 minutes last year and has yet to hit the pitch this season. Rafa has warned Kewell that he must prove his fitness before contract talks will commence.

I can't say enough that I'm a huge Harry Kewell fan and want to see him fit and in a Liverpool kit as soon as possible, but if he's going to continue to be a waste of money, I don't see why they should keep him. I'm not accusing him of anything, but I find it odd and a bit disheartening that he's always fit for Australia when the Socceroos come a calling. I hope he didn't play hurt for his country this past summer in the Asia Cup.

We need Kewell. He adds depth to the flanks and at forward. Most of all he brings flare and creativity to the squad. When he's on, he's a brilliant addition to the side. Even when he's off, he's smart enough to know that and tries to contribute in other ways.

Seeing Kewell in another team's shirt next year, especially a Premiership side, would be crushing. I don't know why he's having trouble gaining fitness, but I hope he gets better and back soon. Just in case you forgot how good the Aussie is, here's a video to remind you. (Why is it that most of Kewell's videos has questionable music? He's a cursed man, I tell ya.)

Anfield Banter awards for September

Player of the month

This one is tough. Benayoun has made a strong case with the last two matches. His strike against Reading was crucial as it kick started the goal-scoring machine, not to mention it was a beaut. Obviously his cheeky score against Wigan was important as well. If it weren't for the Porto fiasco, Mascherano would be walking away with it and Riise has had his moments, but I think it has to go to Torres. He does so much on the pitch even if he hadn't scored at all the whole month, he'd still be a candidate for this accolade.

Goal of the month

There's really only three candidates here: Babel versus Derby, Yossi versus Reading, and Yossi versus Wigan. I'd have to give it to Yossi versus Wigan only because of it's importance. All three goals showed plenty of skill.

Assist of the month

Riise to Torres versus Reading was the first to come to mind, so it's got to be that one. Gerrard's through ball to Torres in the Reading match was nice as well.

Unsung hero of the month

Arbeloa, easy. He's played every minute of every match at three different positions. Though some of his performances have been subpar, we have yet to yield a goal from open play, so he's got to be doing something right.

Today's Banter: Nasri?, Benayoun content being super sub, Eccleston comes through, & more

- According to this article, we're going to make a £10m bid for French superstar Samir Nasri. Bullocks. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice to have him, but first off, he primarily plays central midfield and we're kind of loaded in that department. He is versatile enough to play the wings as well, but unless he's going to be content sharing time there, he won't approve the transfer. Finally, if he's as good as advertised, I kind of doubt £10m will be enough to snag him. French players are usually bargains (unless Houllier is the buyer), but that sounds a bit low. Unfortunately, we won't get a look at the 20-year-old when Marseilles come to Anfield on Wednesday as he is convalescing from flu-like symptoms.

- Yossi Benayoun, the only player who felt like scoring for us on Saturday, has proclaimed that he's content being a super sub. It's good to see Yossi have a change of heart from his early season tantrum about not getting enough playing time. He really shows class in that article and its a real testament to our side to have such quality in depth. He should be our starter on the right come Wednesday, that is if Harry Kewell isn't miraculously back from injury and Babel is available.

- Nathan Eccleston lead the way with a brace as the Academy beat Stoke City 3-2. Joe Kennedy scored the other goal. The kids now sit at 3-2 for the season though still have -1 goal difference. Their next match is Saturday when they travel to Blackburn.

- After bagging the next Lionel Messi in 16-year-old Gerardo Bruna, we're apparently tracking Irish Starlet James McCarthy and may make an offer for him at the end of the season. The 16-year-old Hamilton Accies midfielder is the youngest ever scorer for his club and has attracted attention from seemingly every club on the planet.

- Finally, Djibril Cisse can't wait for Wednesday when he makes his return to Anfield in a Marseilles shirt. The 26-year-old French striker said he was on the phone with Stevie-G the moment he found out about the draw. He also said some nice (and true) things about our captain like calling him the best midfielder in the world. Bolo Zenden also plays for Marseilles. Hopefully he'll give the average Anfield performance and be more of a burden to his own side. Cheers.