Today's Banter: Carra praises Hyypiä & Reina, Bayern wants Benitez, Javi responds, & more

With all the time he's got on his hands these days, Jamie Carragher has decided to give somewhat of a state-of-the-club address with particular praise for his centre back partner and Pepe Reina. Carra makes a good point that taking eight points from a run of Goodison, Arsenal, Ewood, and Fulham at Anfield is a decent string of results. He then goes on to point out how Hyypiä has raised his level of play recently, something that hasn't gone unnoticed, but also adds that it seems when the Finn plays well, the whole team appears to follow suit. That's something I haven't really recognized, but come to think of it, he may be right. Finally, the man from Bootle calls Pepe Reina one of the three best keepers in the world along with Petr Čech and Gianluigi Buffon, as well as the best he's ever played with. Good call, Carra, way to schmooze your teammates so close to Christmas and all.

Apparently Bayern Munich wants Rafa to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld at the end of the season. I won't even address such rubbish, Bayern is no where near the club they once were just six or seven years ago and Rafa is investing too much time and energy to be lured away by what's frankly a lesser club.

Moving on, one of our transfer targets, Javi Martínez of Athletic Bilbao, appears to be open to a move to the Premiership, but wants to do what's best for his club and himself. Sounds to me as if he's going to go elsewhere, he wants his current club to make a substantial financial gain for doing so. I've got to wonder that if he's not a true winger or can even be effective on the flank, do we really need another central midfielder? I think not, unless Rafa has something up his sleeve like selling Momo, but I doubt it.

Finally, we have a delusional and ill-informed Man U fan trying to compare their debt issues to ours. Sorry, but as usual, a Man U failed to do the actual work and tried to pass half-assed biased opinion for fact. The Red Devils (not Reds, mind you) have a current debt of at least £660m, stemming from the Glazers refinancing in July of 2006, so it could actually be more than that, especially if you consider the amount they spent on players this past summer and that the Glazers will probably do their best to keep the fans and media in the dark about financial matters at the club due the negative light it tends to shed. Liverpool's debt currently sits at around £300m, but the owners are will have to refinance soon to fund the building of the new stadium. At most it will increase to around £520m, which is still well less than the Mancs. I realize that misery loves company, but I refuse to be dragged into the hell of ignorance that epitomizes the typical Man U 'fan'. Cheers.

On-loan watch: Will Paul Anderson play tonight?

Swansea City will look to extend an unbeaten run of 10 matches tonight when they face Huddersfield Town at the Liberty. It is unclear whether or not Paul Anderson will be available to play, but since I've yet to read otherwise, I'm going to assume that he will. On Tuesday, the 19-year-old winger was subbed off in the 50th minute of the Swans' League Trophy match with Yeovil Town, though there have been no reports to think that it was anything but a precautionary measure. Anderson will be looking to add to his goal tally of eight as the Swans have a chance to go to the top of the League One table if they manage to win by a margin of two or more. If anyone gets the chance to see this match, feel free to comment below on Anderson's performance.

Flash Friday: Volley Challenge 2007/08

Ugh, I had nightmares about this game for about two weeks until I finally won the league. My hand-eye coordination is not what it was 20 years ago when I was vying time between my Commodore 64, NES, and Sega Master System. Ah, those were the days...

Anyhow, the premise is basically to slam volleys past the opposing team's keeper to collect points. Each club you face has a set number of points you need to beat in order to draw or win the match. The number of points per squad depends on how good they may be, in other words, Man U and Chelsea have the highest amount to overcome.

Once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy. I now like to go ahead and get the necessary amount to earn my three points and then try to smash the ball in the head of the defenders. Most of the time it's Gary Neville... it feels so good.

Just in case you missed the link, go here. Cheers and good luck getting any work done for the rest of the day.

Transfer target: Javi Martínez

Javier Martínez Aguinaga is a 19-year-old midfielder currently plying his trade with La Liga outfit Athletic Bilbao. Born in Pamplona, Spain, Martinez attended the youth academy at Osasuna where he eventually earned 32 starts for the B team, scoring a pair of goals. In 2006, the young Spaniard was bought by Los Leones for €6m and has since become a first-team regular. He has been compared to Patrick Vieira for their similar size and style of play. In 48 matches, he's scored 3 goals.

Here's a video of him scoring a brace against Deportivo. The second one is a nice display of his speed, ball control, and determination:


Here's a compilation of the 'best' goals from La Liga and 2006/07. Martinez is number 9 with a great curling lob from right outside the box. The music is awesome as usual by the way:

Today's Banter: Sissoko to Everton?, Crouch departure looks likely, Kewell may start for Socceroos, & more

Well, this is quite alarming. Apparently David Moyes is interested in bringing Momo Sissoko to Everton. Why do I get the feeling that this is going to spark Toffee cries that Liverpool stole him away from them in the first place? Of course they just want to ignore the fact that he played under Rafa at Valencia. As for this rumor, I'm going to have to give it the Heston treatment and say, 'From my cold dead hands!' There's just no way Rafa can allow a talent of Momo's proportion to go not only to our friends in blue, but to any Premiership side.

Apparently Sissoko wants to talk over his future with Benitez, which I'm sure will just lead to the Malian announcing that he's got to work harder or some rubbish of the sort, but if he does go elsewhere, it's best he goes to Italy or Spain. I personally want him to stay, as his athleticism could eventually be an asset to allow him to be more than just a defensive midfielder, as he showed in the preseason. Plus at times he's a beast on the pitch and with the motivation that our side didn't think he was good enough for us, I'm sure he won't be very fun to face. Not to mention recklessly dangerous.

Word is Rafa is tired of Crouch's ego and is looking to sell him in the January transfer window. Do you hear that? Are you sure? Well, it's a heavenly host of angels in my head singing glorious psalms of triumph. Who needs coffee when you've got news like this? With that said, Rafa will probably come out sometime next week and say that Crouch is, in fact, not for sale, crushing my hopes. Well, apparently his valuation has been set at £10m and among those interested are Newcastle, Portsmouth, and Aston Villa. I would just like to ask those clubs not to give in to the good fight and if it'll help, I'll donate a couple of quid to their cause. By the way, unlike Momo, I would pray that other clubs would play Crouch against us. One less player to worry about.

Any hopes of Harry Kewell not seeing action for Australia tomorrow have appeared to've been dashed. Apparently Tim Cahill is unfit to play which will move Kewell into a starting role. So he has yet to start for Liverpool this season, but he may for the Socceroos? I can't say that I'm shocked. Anyways, I'll be keeping tabs on the situation on Saturday and may even watch the match. Stay fit, King Harry... please.

Now for the fun stuff. Steven Gerrard is once again the slag flavor of the month for his so-called 'xenophobic' comments regarding a foreigner quota in the Premiership. First off, the fact that this is getting any attention is just pure rubbish. All he said was that it might be something to look into, that's it, but I realize it's Stevie-G, the greatest player in the world, and everything he says is front-page news that sells copy. Fine, whatever. The best thing is when complete morons chime in on their opinion, believing they know what Gerrard said, which, let me assure you, they don't. They weren't there and didn't ask Stevie himself. Muppets.

Patrice Evra is apparently one of them. The French International has been quoted as saying that Man U have more England Internationals than Liverpool. I just love it when Senegalese players... what? What was that? He's French? But... Really though, Patrice? Let's look into that for a second. I'm looking at the latest squad selection right now and I only see one Man U player, Wes 'I'm having a laugh' Brown, and two LFC players, Crouch and Gerrard. Last time I checked, two was more than one. Oh, wait, do you mean players with caps for England? This will be fun.

Let's start with Gary Neville. Gary Neville? Paging Gary Neville? Nevermind. Then you have Wes Brown... hold on... I can't stop laughing... Jamie Carragher is ten times the player Brown would ever hope to be. Michael Carrick? B team at best. Hargreaves? Like I said yesterday, he only has knee cartilage for his club. Kieran Richardson? Oh, wait, nevermind. Rooney? Always seems injured when his country comes a-calling. That leaves Rio Ferdinand, who, unlike last year, is well-deserving of a spot to represent his country, but alas, he's suspended. So there you go, Man U's latest contribution to England in a nutshell. Stick with being a cheat Evra, you're good at that. It's in your Senegalese, uh, I mean French blood.

Finally, we have another good laugh when this bloke tries to say Jermaine Jenas is as good as Steven Gerrard. Of course, Jenas is more of a holding midfielder and Gerrard is a true box-to-box, but let's ignore that. Also, Gerrard plays in more matches for club and country and has scored more goals overall, but let's just manipulate the data to prove our point. No manager in the world would take Jenas over Gerrard and if he did, he'd be an unemployed manager. Cheers.

SHOCKING NEWS!!! Another Man U player can't play for England!!!

Are you shocked?!?!?!? I'm blown away!!!!

It's practically predicted on every other page of Nostradamus' Prophecies. Word on the street is that Michael Carrick stubbed his toe and was walking around on crutches with a cast on his foot until someone told him he wasn't selected to play in the upcoming matches for England. He was back training in less than an hour.

Anyhow, kudos to Fergie for his ingenuity. If you don't know what I'm referring to, Owen Hargreaves has declared himself unfit for England. He claims that he only has enough cartilage left in his knees to play for Man U. Well, at least it's a legitimate reason.

Another story coming out of Old Trafford is that Wes Brown cut himself shaving and won't be able to go if Russia beats Israel on Saturday. More on that story as it develops. Now back to the 'real' news of Gerrard's xenophobia.

Busting the 'big spending' Benitez myth

I love the 'wind-up' blogs, don't you? The ones that end their post titles with lots of exclamation marks or just have a moronically vague title like 'Is Rafa crazy???' Yes, he is. Wow, that took more brain power than the content of the actual post. Anyhow, earlier this week, some idiot, who claimed to be a Liverpool fan by the way, referred to Rafa as a 'big spender.' I nearly lost the plot I laughed so hard. I wonder, does anyone actually think that? If so, let me rather easily convince you otherwise.

For sake of argument, let's take the period between Rafa's hiring and the end of last season to analyze how much of a spender Benitez is compared to the other big four managers. Rafa was hired in June of 2004, so for instance, I won't include the amount earned through the sale of Emile Heskey since it occurred in May of that year. I also won't include the transactions of this past summer since their affect is of yet not quantifiable in the terms I aim to utilize.

Between the period of his hiring and the final whistle of the Champions League final last May, Rafa had paid out roughly £80 for 16 players, from Josemi to the loan-fee of Javier Mascherano. During that same period, he sold £43m worth of players, 13 in all, from Danny Murphy to Stephen Warnock. I didn't include Djibril Cisse since technically he wasn't sold until this past July. That's a difference of approximately £37m for 1 major trophy (2005 Champions League) and 1 minor trophy (2006 FA Cup).

During that same time frame, Sir Alex Ferguson spent around £75m on 9 players, from Wayne Rooney to Michael Carrick, and rid himself of 8 players for roughly £26m, Van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid being a large chunk of that. That's a difference of approximately £49 for 1 major trophy (2007 Premiership) and 1 minor trophy (2006 League Cup). The same amount of cups won by Benitez only at £12m more.

Jose Mourinho, who joined Chelsea the same summer as Rafa took the Liverpool job, has spent a whopping £209m on players and sold £49m worth. That's a difference of £160m for 2 major trophies (2005, 2006 EPL) and 3 minor trophies (2005, 2007 League Cup & 2007 FA Cup). That's basically £32m per trophy, roughly £8m more per than Ferguson, and a little more than twice as much as Benitez.

The undisputed king of getting the most bang for your buck is Wenger though. The Arsenal manager has spent around £29m during Rafa's reign and, thanks in large part to the sale of Patrick Vieria to Juventus in the summer of 2005, has received roughly £27m for departures. Of course all he has to show for it is the 2005 FA Cup and a 2006 Champions League second place medal, but that's what £2m will get you these days.

Clearly Rafa has not been a 'big spender' and has done wonders with the limited funds and players provided. If one wants to call him a 'big spender' after this summer, well, that's mythical as well. He may have bought 5 players (Lucas, Leto, Torres, Benayoun, & Babel) for a total of £43.5m, but he also sold 4 players (Gonzo, Bellamy, Garcia, & Cisse) for £21m. Compared to Sir Alex at Man U, who spent somewhere in the ballpark of £50-60m depending on how much the Tevez loan fee actually was, £22.5m is chump change.

(By the way, all the data used in this post was collected through hard work. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the official financial data of any club, so I had to peruse numerous sources, checking and re-checking figures I might add. If you'd like to take the time to prove my numbers otherwise, well, I'd appreciate it and make the proper corrections. Otherwise, comments questioning the figures presented will be rubbished. Good day!)

Today's Banter: Bellamy named Welsh FOY, BBC half-ass apologizes, Injury update, & more

Congratulations to Craig Bellamy who was named Footballer of the Year for Wales, beating out the likes of Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale. Anytime a Liverpool player, former or not, beats out a Man U player for something, the sun seems to shine a little brighter. It was the first time the 28-year-old striker has won the award. The always humble Bells was surprised to win, but thought he was more deserving in previous years. I sometimes wonder if he was still with our side, what kind of contribution he'd make. Outside of leading the club in offside calls that is.

The BBC just doesn't get it. In their apology for an Eastenders character making remarks about Heysel, Hillsborough, and hooliganism, they claim it was 'misinterpreted.' Any chance of such a notion should be avoided when referencing such a sensitive subject. The causes and the consequences of those events are much too complicated for a television show to handle in just a matter of a couple of lines. Stick to the lame-ass imaginary story lines and stop trying to mix in reality where real people were/are killed and other real people were/are traumatized because of it. Moving on...

There's a good chance that Daniel Agger will be back for the Newcastle match at St. James Park. The 22-year-old Dane is expected to return to full training next week. Since Hyypiä will probably play for Finland next Tuesday, the young centre back's return couldn't come at a better time. Yossi Benayoun could be back in action for the Tyneside tie as well, but Xabi Alonso will be at least an additional week if not more.

In transfer market news, Rafa is ready to sell Scott Carson to Villa if the club are prepared to meet his valuation. It is thought that Benitez wants at least £9m for him. I wonder if we waited until the summer, we could get a bit more for him, especially since Arsene Wenger is an admirer and is in need of a better goalie. Of course, if we could use that money to sign Masche on a permanent, there's no question we should sell.

Sticking to transfers, we are apparently interested in Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina. The 29-year-old Frenchman has apparently fallen out of favor with Claudio Reyna at the Old Lady and could be available in the January transfer window. He can play both right-back and central defense. I say if the price is right, why not? The more the merrier, as long as he doesn't mind not playing every match.

In the laughable news category, apparently Hamburg SV stole the next greatest striker in the world, Macauley Chrisantus, out from under us and every other big club in the world. Let's see here, a youth player has a great U17 World Cup, gets hyped up and apparently everyone wants him. Well, that always works out... *cough* Anthony LeTallec *cough* *cough* Florent Sinama-Pongolle *cough*... We've learned our lesson there.

Finally, in the pot -> kettle -> black category, Real Madrid youth coach Michel took a cheap shot at us for 'stealing' 16-year-old Argentine Gerardo Bruna after the young forward had spent the three previous seasons with the Spanish club. Michel goes on to say, “How many young players taken by Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have played for their first team? They sign the boy to a contract, make all sorts of promises and then put him in their reserves and never give him a competitive game.” Ha ha ha... is he kidding? Two words: Alvaro Arbeloa. Cheers.

on-loan watch: Miki Roque for Xerez? & League Trophy results

The only kid that could have saw action today was Miki Roque for Xerez CD. The Segunda División side faced former LFC player Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Recreativo de Huelva in the first leg of the 5th round of the Copa Del Rey. Don't expect the 19-year-old to have seen any action though, for according to the official Xerez site, he's yet to play a single minute for his temporary side, which currently sit third from bottom on the división table, a point from relegation safety.

If he's not going to play, why is he there? He may be injured, but since he hasn't played at all, I have to assume otherwise, even though with Torres we know how rough the Spaniards can be in training. At least if he had stayed he'd play once in a while with the Reserves and get a chance to train with top flight players occasionally. Seems like a waste unless Rafa doesn't figure the young Spaniard in the club's future anyhow. Who knows. Anyhow, it looks like his side fell 0-1 to Recre on a goal by former Xerez forward Javier Camuñas.

In yesterday's Johnstone Paint Trophy action, Paul Anderson and Swansea City knocked Lee Peltier and Yeovil Town out of the competition, 1-0. Anderson failed to score for the first League trophy match of his career and was actually substituted in the 50th minute though it doesn't appear because of injury. Lee Peltier played the full ninety for his club.

Finally, Hartlepool United and Godwin Antwi were eliminated by Morecambe on penalty kicks as the match ended 1-1 in extra time. Antwi played the full match, but did neither score his side's lone goal nor participate in the decisive penalty kicks. Cheers.

Comparing Arbeloa and Finnan

I've been quite surprised to read on other blogs and elsewhere, that it's time Alvaro Arbeloa get regular starts over Steve Finnan at right back. I'm even more shocked when I read that some think Finnan is past it and should be sold in the January transfer window. I strongly disagree. First off, when did Steve Finnan become known for his pace? The Irishman is a player who has always used his head more than his physical attributes, so to say that he is a turtle compared to Arbeloa's hare is stating the obvious.

There's no doubt that Arbeloa has improved from last year. In January, he came onto the club like gangbusters and made an immediate impact by shutting down Lionel Messi in only his second match ever for us. As last year wore on though, his faults started to show. He got caught out of position by going too far forward on numerous occasions and his tackling abilities came more into question. I honestly think he was just bored in some of these incidences, but still, that's no excuse.

This year the Spaniard seems to be playing back more, especially later in matches when fatigue sets in and his pace can't save him from being out of position. His early match spurts of going forward, even though they have yet to produce a goal, definitely help open opposing defenses and force them to pay attention to his movements. His tackling has improved greatly as well.

The biggest difference between the two players is that Steve Finnan is a true wing-back and Arbeloa is more of a straight-on attacking fullback. I'm not saying that the Spaniard is incapable of making a great cross, I'm just saying he's more adept at approaching the goal from the front. I feel really sorry that Benitez has to decide between the two different styles when analyzing which would be best at exposing an opponent's weaknesses. That's called sarcasm, by the way.

Finnan is by no means past it. He is solid on defense as always, but I do feel that he appears to go forward less this season than in the past. When we were suffering through that string of numbing draws earlier in the season though, at times Finnan looked the only one on the pitch who was trying to make something happen. The one negative thing I will say about Finney is that at 31 he needs to retire from international duty. It would actually probably be best for Ireland as well, since they need to start integrating youth into their squad, especially since they won't have a chance to participate in any major competitions until the 2010 World Cup.

Liverpool fans should embrace the fact that we have a class player like Finnan to teach and show Arbeloa the ropes of playing fullback in the Premiership. Finnan doesn't exude the flashiness of Arbeloa, so I don't expect him to get the kind of praise he deserves, but at times, even with that dedication and undying resolve he gives our club, some aren't giving him the proper respect. He is still one of the best right backs in the Premiership and most clubs would give their right arm to have him. We should appreciate him while we can because no matter what, Arbeloa will get his chances to impress.

Transfer target: Ezequiel Garay

Ezequiel Marcelo Garay is a Argentine centre/right back currently playing for Racing Santander. The 21-year-old signed with the La Liga club from Newell's Old Boys two years ago and has made quite an impact. Adept with his head on set pieces and solid on penalty kicks, Garay has amassed 9 goals in 38 league matches for the Spanish side. He has received multiple call-ups to the Argentina National team, but has had to reject all but one due to injury. He was also a regular for his country's youth side that won the 2005 U20 World Cup in the Netherlands. Manchester United are among the other clubs in pursuit of his services and his valuation is set at £10m. I think he'd be quite the pairing with Agger. Here's some videos of his work.

A header goal for Newell's Old Boys from a free kick. It begins about 40 seconds in:


Another sensational header goal, this time for Racing:


A six-minute interview which includes a bit about the anchovies of Santander:

Today's Banter: Gerrard for foreigner quota, Eastenders sensationalizes Hillsborough, Carra enjoying time off, & more

I would write a headline like 'Gerrard hates foreigners', but unlike just the one single comment I have ever received calling me a 'wind-up merchant', I am in fact not and honestly, anyone who states such an opinion does not read me regularly. Furthermore, I cannot stand the non-news sites, a.k.a. 'wind-up blogs', who write rubbish trying to draw people to their sites so they can increase their hits. They are not fans of football and just do so for monetary reasons. It makes me sick. Maybe I'll do a post calling these people out in the near future because they severely water-down the soccer blog community and nearly nullify efforts such as my own to provide quality opinions and insight into my club and the sport itself. Those idiots give solace to the idea that football fans are thick-headed. Anyhow...

Steven Gerrard is all over the press like ants on sugar. First, our captain chimes in on the topic of a foreigner quota or at least a set amount of English players required for each Premiership squad. There's a number of reasons why this will never happen and the first is that it just won't work. All the propositions I've read about are having a set number of English players on a side's squad. With no limits on the amount of players a club can have, that wouldn't matter. Take a wild guess as to how many English players are in Liverpool's squad? Try nine and that doesn't include the seven we have out-on-loan neither the nine at the Academy. That's 25 of the 74 total players in all.

Second, if they set a quota for only allowing the number of foreigners eligible to play for a certain match, then you delude the quality of play on the field. Like it or not, it's no longer England's Premiership, but the world's, and it's going to have to reflect that notion to maintain it's popularity and economic status. To blame the failures of the national team on the lack of playing opportunities in the EPL is simply rubbish, especially when you have tactless and spineless individuals running your country's squad.

Speaking of McClaren, Gerrard sees 'no point changing managers every five months or every year.' Stevie G, I love ya, but what are you talking about?! McClaren has been at the helm for 15 months now and has the second worse record of any England manager in history. He's clearly out of his element. As long as he is allowed to continue, England has absolutely no chance of winning anything. I don't know why I'm complaining, eventually it just means more rest for Gerrard.

Popular BBC soap opera, Eastenders, created quite the controversy when it alluded to the disaster of Hillsborough as being the responsibility of hooliganism. The scene in question involves a group of 'hoodlums' in search of another character with a hooligan past, but are apparently confronted by a character who says, 'Five years out of Europe because of Heysel, because they pinned you lot in to stop you fighting on the pitch, and then what did we end up with – Hillsborough.' Though clearly socially irresponsible, it's not as if it doesn't represent the ignorance of most people who either choose to know nothing about Hillsborough and just chalk it up to hooliganism out of convenience or the other poor sods who use the disastrous event in poor taste as ammunition against LFC supporters.

The show does try to portray a social realist angle, but the insensitivity of the approach here is quite inconsiderate. Sadly the influence of imaginary people spewing mis-educated opinions is greater than truth and reality. I won't divulge anymore on the subject, but do agree that Eastenders owe the families of the victims and those that were present and traumatized by the event, a sincere apology.

Recently we've added a couple of kids to our ever-growing world youth arsenal. Lauri Dalla Valle, a 15-year-old Finnish attacking midfielder, was signed to a contract to join the club in January. Valle is considered one the best talents ever to come out of the Scandinavian country and was at Inter last year. Other clubs that pursued him include Chelsea. The plans are to keep him at the Academy for a year-and-a-half and then integrte him into Melwood. More recently, 16-year-old Swedish centre back Tim Bjorkstrom was granted a trial of indeterminate length to train at the Academy. Bjorkstrom has played with the Swedish U17s and for Swedish side Brommapojkarna.

Finally, Jamie Carragher is enjoying his two-week fixture-free 'holiday' since he doesn't have to suit up for England. The 29-year-old centre back is enjoying the light training sessions at Melwood and spending more time with his wife and kids. Doesn't that sound great, Stevie? Furthermore, he has no regrets about quitting England. He shouldn't, being played out-of-position constantly and not getting the opportunities he was entitled to and earned was just pure rubbish. Cheers.

Paul Anderson's goal vs Millwall

Still looking for the Gillingham goal and the League Trophy goals, but here's his crucial 78th minute equalizer versus Millwall on the 6th of November. It's the last one of the highlights about 40 seconds in. Cheers.

Johnstone Paint Trophy: Loaned kids in action today

Three of our on-loan kids have a good chance of seeing action today as their respective clubs are in action for the Johnstone Paint Trophy. Two of them might even square off against one another.

Godwin Antwi and Hartlepool United will host Morecambe at Victoria Park this evening. The 19-year-old Ghanaian-Spanish centre-back/defensive midfielder saw action for the first time in a month two days ago. He replaced Gary Liddle in the 56th minute of the Monkey Hangers' 6-0 thrashing of Gainsborough Trinity in the first round of the FA Cup. The last time Godwin started or even played for the 'Pools prior was in their last League Trophy match, a 5-2 win over Lincoln. He has one goal for his temporary League One Side and that came in their August 18th 2-1 home win over Doncaster.

Paul Anderson looks to add to his goal tally of eight as the Swans welcome Yeovil to Liberty Stadium. The 19-year-old winger will also be looking to extend his streak of scoring in League Trophy matches to three as he as already netted in his side's wins over Millwall and Wycombe.

On the other side of the pitch, Lee Peltier could very well be facing his former youth-side teammate as he looks to get the start for Yeovil. The 20-year-old defender/midfielder has started in 14 matches so far this year for The Glovers, though has yet to score. He did net in pre-season for Liverpool though, in a friendly versus Crewe.

It's too bad James Smith is no longer at Stockport, because the Hatters are in action as well.

International Watch: the who, what, when, where, and why

Though I'm never too enthusiastic about our players risking injury for their country, I will admit that it gives me something to look forward to over the break. With that said, let's take a look at which players got call-ups and if applicable, what the situation is with their country in advancing to the European Championships next summer or in one case, World Cup qualifying.

First, Pepe Reina got the usual call-up to his native Spain to be the back-up to Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas. I honestly think Pepe is better than Casillas, but it doesn't bother me that he doesn't get to play. Torres, despite probably being fit enough, was not called-on, and Xabi is still injured. I'm sort of surprised Alvaro Arbeloa isn't taken into consideration, but I'm not going to argue over his exclusion. The group of defenders they appeared to call is actually quite strong for once, recently they've had a few injured.

Spain has ties with group leader Sweden and Northern Ireland, the former at Santiago Bernabéu and the latter at Gran Canaria. A draw in either of those matches nearly assures their advancement to the final, a victory definitely does. How big was the fan incident with Herbert Fandel for Denmark? It pretty much cost the Danes any chance of advancing, of course, drawing nil-nil with Northern Ireland both times didn't help either.

Both Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt will be in Rotterdam come Saturday as the Netherlands need a victory over Luxembourg to continue to the next stage of the competition. Sounds like a simple enough task as the Red Lions have just recently recorded their first competitive win in twelve years. Hopefully one of the two will not have to play in the following mid-week fixture at Belarus, so they'll be fresh for the Newcastle tie.

Sami Hyypiä will take the pitch for Finland as they basically need to beat Azerbaijan in Helsinki on Saturday and then travel to the Estádio do Dragão to take on the Portuguese. If Portugal beat Armenia in Leiria on Saturday it might not matter anyhow, as Cristiano Ronaldo's side has a +8 goal difference over Finland as it stands now and that will probably increase after Saturday. Plus if Serbia beats Kazakhstan and Poland, whom they both play in home country stadiums, the Serbs will probably get the nod ahead of the Finns since they also have a superior goal differential. Hopefully, that'll mean Hyypiä will get the mid-week fixture in Portugal off and be fresh when he returns to Liverpool, though Agger might be fit anyhow.

Andriy Voronin was called-up for the Ukraine, even though they have already been eliminated. The Zhovto-Blakytni first travel to Lithuania and then have a chance to spoil France's qualifying hopes in Kiev. Hopefully Oleg Blokhin will be trying out his ponies and let the elder players rest.

John Arne Riise got the usual call from Norway as they look to secure a qualifying spot against Turkey in Oslo. A win and the Norwegians are in. If they draw then all they need is a similar result at Malta on the 21st. Hopefully they'll wrap it up on Saturday and not need the services of Riise after that.

Ireland called-up Steve Finnan, which actually might be beneficial to us in the end. The 31-year-old hasn't donned the Liverpool kit since the Blackburn match, so maybe a little action for his country will keep his fitness up as they travel to Cardiff to face Wales to finish off their failed qualifying campaign.

Then we have England. Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch are both set to take the pitch for the Three Lions on the 21st against Croatia. Of course, if Russia beat Israel, I don't see the point in risking Gerrard, as I doubt Andorra will be able to hold the Russians to even a draw. An Israel draw with Russia, will assure England a great chance of advancing since Croatia would have already qualified and the match will be held at Wembley. Oh yeah, they also have that all important friendly with Austria this Friday.

Speaking of Israel, they will be without the services of their captain, Yossi Benayoun, who was injured in the Fulham match. Also, Danny Agger was not called up for Denmark in case you were wondering.

As for non-Euro qualifying international matches, Harry Kewell will be with Australia when they take on Nigeria in a friendly at Wembley on Saturday. If recent history tells us anything, it's that Kewell will most likely come off the bench. Hopefully the history of him getting injured for the Socceroos won't rear it's ugly head though.

Finally, Javier Mascherano will probably start for both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers, home against Bolivia on Saturday then at Colombia the following Tuesday. I'd be surprised to see him start against Newcastle on Saturday though, especially since Sissoko will be well-rested.

Today's Banter: Owners 'rift' rubbished, A return to England for Cissé?, Riise to stay, & Rush praises Rafa's tactics

Club Chief Executive Rick Parry has stated that the rift between Tom Hicks and George Gillett is totally fabricated. The 52-year-old revealed that he has recently spent time with both owners and drew no such conclusions of a breach in their partnership. Even if there was, I sincerely doubt the papers would know about it before something major occurred. Parry added that Gillett and Hicks are still on the same page concerning the future of the club and are working on a refinancing package to be completed in the next 30 days.

Former LFC striker Djibril Cissé may be on his way back to the Premiership. The 26-year-old French international has fallen out of favor with his current club, Marseille, and is looking to go elsewhere. It is no surprise that 'Money Bags' Shinawatra at Man City and Eggert 'Big Paper' Magnússon of West Ham are the two being linked to him. Cissé is married to an English woman and still owns a home in Cheshire.

John Arne Riise has rubbished claims that he'll be joining fellow Norwegian John Carew at Aston Villa in January. The recently turned 27-year-old seems very pragmatic about his current dip in form and is looking to improve. Riise has had glimpses of brilliance, but they've been far and few between. He was simply dazzling in the preseason, but at the very least, wholly inconsistent since. Maybe he can get some pointers from Hyypia about how to find his top self once again. I'd rather he stick around, but if he's going to continue to be a detriment, I can't see any reason to keep him aboard.

Finally, Ian Rush has praised Rafa for the tactics he employed in the Fulham match, especially bringing on Torres at just the right time. One of the things that he states in that article that I agree with is that he doesn't believe Rafa wanted to keep the same line-up as the Besitkas match. I really think Rafa did so as a message to his players that he doesn't always rotate on the basis of who's fresh or for tactical reasons. I think he wanted to let them know if they perform well, they'll get more playing chances, a notion some don't think Rafa believes in. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Torres left off Spain (yes!), Hicks after Roma?, Fulham post-match rubbish, & more

Luis Aragonés just became my favorite international manager. The 69-year-old Spaniard decided not to call-up Fernando Torres for Spain's two Euro-qualifiers with Sweden and Northern Ireland. With Xabi injured and Arbeloa not under consideration, it means only Pepe Reina will be with La Furia Roja, though with Iker Casillas still the number one, Reina probably won't play. I can now breathe a little easier knowing that Torres will more than likely start against Newcastle on the 24th at St. James Park. Rafa is happy with the 23-year-old striker's omission as well.

Word is Tom Hicks has inquired about possibly purchasing Serie A club AS Roma. First off, it's highly improbable that the club would sell to a foreigner since no Serie A club is owned by a non-Italian. Second, if there is even a glint of truth to the matter, it means that Hicks might be looking to get out of his co-ownership with George Gillett. UEFA rules prevent one person owning more than one team participating in UEFA competitions, so Hicks would have to sell his interest in LFC. Maybe the rumors of a rift between the two parties is true.

Was Lawrie Sanchez watching the same match that everyone else was on Saturday? Apparently not. The Fulham manager seems to think that his squad deserved at least a point for their efforts and that Liverpool was fortuitous to get the win. The 48-year-old said: "I actually felt that Torres mis-hit his final shot, and that is what confused Hughes and Niemi. It was a soft goal in the end to concede... As for the penalty, I don't believe it was in the box, it wasn't a penalty. I felt we had kept them quiet, restricted them to shots from outside the box in the first half." Well, as lucky as we were to get a 'mis-hit' goal and a penalty called for a non-penalty, we were also unlucky not to score a couple of more goals as well.

Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez has had plenty to say on a whole range of subjects. First, he expects Pepe Reina to get more assists like he did for Torres goal. I honestly don't think Rafa should be encouraging any long ball tactics especially if there's a chance the player could get carried away with the notion. It's nice to have that option, but only when it's used sparingly. Most of the time a goal doesn't come of it.

Next up, Rafa has said that not changing his line-up from the Besitkas match was just as much a risk as changing it would have been. In the end, he felt a few of the players were ineffective due to fatigue. I still don't understand why Riise was left in, he was pretty useless for the third or so straight match.

Finally, Benitez claims that Torres is not our side's most natural finisher. He feels that Kuyt and Voronin are naturally better. Uh, okay. Also in that link he talks about how Torres' pace was very effective against the tired Fulham side, which is why he decided not to start Fernando but instead use him in the super-sub role.

Steven Gerrard has spoken up about how he believes Steve McClaren is the right man for the England job. What is Stevie-G smoking? McClaren is well out of his element and lacks the vision, creativity, and balls to put a squad out for the Three Lions that will challenge for anything. The excuse that England doesn't have the horses of other European sides is a joke. The only countries that I would say have more talented are France and Spain. What England lacks is motivation and the right mix of players, but McClaren is incapable of the former and doesn't have the guts to put out any squad other than what is accepted as England's best though they may not be able to play with one another. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Masche ♥ LFC, Benayoun benched for 3 weeks, Sissoko frustrated, & Owners tussle?

Javier Mascherano is apparently loving Liverpool life and has no desire to go elsewhere. So much so that he has stated that if he doesn't sign with our club, he won't play for any other English side. That's good to hear, but I hope we do whatever we have to secure his services because I'd rather not face a side in Europe with him on it either.

Yossi Benayoun won't be the savior of England's Euro hopes if Israel happens to beat Russia next Saturday. The Israeli captain slightly tore his adductor muscle in yesterday's match. He is expected to miss at least three weeks. Hopefully that'll mean more playing time for Harry Kewell, well, if he can avoid injury playing for Australia next weekend.

Momo Sissoko has once again voiced his frustration about Rafa's rotation policy. I find it a bit odd that he isn't paired in the middle more often with Mascherano and Gerrard placed on the right myself. It's looking more and more likely that he'll be sold in the January transfer window, which in my opinion, would be a bad idea. I know he's slowly dropped out of favor with the fans, but he's still young and a huge talent. I would hate to see him develop elsewhere, especially if he leaves with a chip on his shoulder. Knowing how reckless he can be, that would be a bit scary if we ever had to face him.

Finally, there appears to be a rift between our owners. As reported by News of the World, the same rag that fabricated the Bellamy/Riise golf club incident, Hicks and Gillett don't see eye-to-eye about the stadium plans. If you want a laugh, you can read the article here. It sounds a bit childish towards the end when the it states the two parties are concerned about who the face of the club is. First, Steven Gerrard is the face of the club, so are they both jealous of him? Second, seriously? Two multi-millionaires really give a rat's ass which one is the face of the club? That doesn't make much sense, if I were that rich, anonymity would seem to be one of my priorities. Cheers.