Today's Banter: Rafa waiting Mascherano game, Swansea wants Anderson permanently, City to make Crouch offer, & more

- One of the bigger mysteries at Liverpool, outside of the enigma that is Harry Kewell, is Javier Mascherano's contract situation. The good news is that the Argentine wants to stick around, the bad news is that it will cost us an additional £17m to keep him. With other needs to fill in January, I'm not sure we'll have the funds to make the acquisition then, but I think if we wait until his current on-loan contract runs out his price may go up. I don't think we need Masche, but he certainly makes things a lot easier for us. Rafa is at least willing to wait and see what FIFA rules about third-party player ownership since Mascherano is still technically owned by Kia Joorabchian’s company, Media Sports Investment (MSI). I think that's a good idea, but let's just hope that happens before the January transfer window closes.

- Paul Anderson has made such a splash at Swansea City, that the Swans want to keep him permanently. I personally hope Rafa has future plans for the 19-year-old winger at our club, but I can definitely see him being loaned out again next season and if Swansea gets promoted to the Championship, I don't see why that wouldn't be one of the options. I don't see him joining anything less than a Championship side with maybe a SPL club in consideration. His contract runs through 2010.

- Sven and Man City look to be early suitors for disgruntled striker Peter Crouch. The problem is they are only willing to pay £8m for him. I can't see us taking less than £10m. The reason being is that he'll be a fresh addition to any side thanks to Rafa's rotation policy. If Sven can't get ole Thaksin to cough up an extra £2m, I'm sure Redknapp Casino FC aka Portsmouth can.

- Remember Rob Styles? The man who gave Chelsea a point at Anfield with a rubbish call. Well, it turns out he could get an additional ban for the same match, though this time for his showing of two yellows to Michael Essien. Not sure why the FA has waited this long to try him again, but it sounds awfully fishy to me. Maybe he's had a fallen out with the good ole boys in the FA.

Robbie Fowler to return for Cup tie?

How awesome would it be if we drew Cardiff City at Anfield tomorrow when they do the Carling Cup draw? God would get an improbable return to the place that made him a legend. Of course, knowing our cup draw luck, we'll probably get Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Here's the remaining sides:
Leicester City
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Chelsea
Coventry City
Everton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Arsenal
Blackpool
Portsmouth
Luton Town
Manchester City
Sheffield United
Cardiff City

West Ham might be sweet as well since Craig Bellamy quit us and all. Maybe we can relive the 2006 FA Cup final. Ugh, forgot Arsenal was there. Just had a very painful flashback. Anyhow, the draw is at 12:15 GST Saturday. Cheers.

Au revoir, Jose, au revoir

The poor English press, now they won't be able to make up imaginary spats between Mourinho and Benitez. No more trying to convince everyone that Jose is alluding to Liverpool when he opens his mouth to breathe. It's truly a sad day for all the losers in the world who eat up that crap like it's gospel.

I actually feel sorry for Jose. He was in a no-win situation with Abramovich and the board at Chelsea. He shows he knows how to put a winning side together and all the Russian billionaire wanted to do was interfere. Mourinho made it clear that he didn't want either Ballack or Shevchenko, but listening to a guy who had won four league titles in four years in two different countries was seemingly below Roman.

Mourinho needs and deserves full power over a squad for them to prosper. He's shown more than enough that he's capable of winning trophies for a club that allows him such power. Chelsea fans just sat around and watched as cracks in the relationship between owner and coach began to show.

Will there be a mass protest of Mourinho leaving? Probably not, because ultimately they think their Russian billionaire will be able to use his oil money to buy a great coach. Though I doubt the result will be the same. There went your history, Blues fans, try to remember it while you can.

Man U and Chelsea have worst fans

I remember back during and after the Champions League final, when UEFA's William Gaillard came out with a statement saying that Liverpool had the worst fans and that the European football policing organization had proof of that statement. Well, set aside that the reason they came out with such a statement was to cover up their half-assed security job and planning for the final and the fact that they severely rigged the match with a English-hating German ref, and you still have they fact that they have yet to release the study or document to the general public that backs that statement. Where is it, guys? Did you lose it? Are is it that it's just a load of crap to divert attention to real issues like your incompetence?

Well, skip ahead to this past weekend when I read this here. Turns out that Man U and Chelsea have in fact the worst fans in English football according to Jane's Police Review. Not some organization trying to cover their ass for their mistakes, but an independent third party who has no monetary interest what so ever in the results of the study. And what were the grounds of this study? Fans who were "most likely to attack officers or be racially or sexually abusive." It's no secret that Chelsea has had a violent and racist past, but I was a bit surprised to see Man U there.

So next time some two-bit Chelsea loser slags on you for being a Liverpool fan, just laugh because they truly are the scum of the Earth. Who wants to bet that you won't be hearing about this study on World Soccer Daily? Ha ha ha.

Today's Banter: Voronin backs Benitez, Steven Taylor in the works?, Rafa loves Rugby? & more

(Sorry for not posting but once yesterday and in advance for being so brief today, but really, there's not much going on and Euro-qualifying is on my mind. Cheers.)

- First up, Voronin has come out in defense of Rafa's rotation policy. Again, it's been proven that Rafa in fact rotates his line-ups just as often as Mourinho and Fergie, but who cares, right. I'm glad to see the Ukrainian striker has had a change in thought though, before joining the team he made some comments about being a starter and not a super sub. Now that he's actually here, he has seen the light despite being used as a super sub at times.

- Apparently Steven Taylor has alerted Rafa Benitez, a long-time admirer of the 21-year-old Newcastle centre back, that he may be interested in a switch to Liverpool as early as this upcoming January transfer window. If we can get a young talent like Taylor to pair for Agger in the future, that would be awesome. According to reports, Newcastle made an 'insulting' contract extension offer to the England U21 captain.

- Rafa Benitez was seen catching a rugby match at Knowsley Road. St. Helens boss Daniel Anderson also revealed that he and Rafa have met before and that he'd been to Liverpool's training facility, Melwood, to talk shop.

- Finally, if you want to catch up with Alan Kennedy and the Legends squad, here is a nice read. Cheers everyone and good luck to Stevie-G, Xabi, El Nino, Pepe Reina, Luis Garcia, John Arne Riise, Daniel Agger, Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt, Andriy Voronin, Sami Hyypia, Yossi (not really though, just stay fit), and anyone else I may have forgotten in their international ties. Hope you guys win (except Yossi) , but most of all stay fit.

Babel thanks Rafa, receives praise from Dalglish

In an endearing piece in the Daily Mail today, summer acquisition and winger extraordinaire, Ryan Babel, has revealed that he owes a great deal of gratitude to Rafa Benitez for his tremendous start with the club.

Apparently when Babel was at Ajax, he would let outside interference (a.k.a the crowd) affect his play, so much so that he would become 'depressed on the pitch'. Benitez saw this while attending an Ajax away match during Babel's stay there and told the future star that the abuse ought to make him stronger and that the more the opposing fans swore at him, the more afraid of him they were.

Yeah, he better get used to it, especially with Goodison Park, Old Trafford, and Stamford Bridge all in his near future. If he can fuel from those fans' hate, the kid has the ability to win those matches for us almost singlehandedly.

Also in the Daily Mail, was an article about Dalglish singing Babel's praises. The Liverpool Legend spoke of the young Dutch International's "cracker of a goal" against Derby and how he thinks that could have been the straw that breaks the camel's back, giving Babel the final piece of confidence he needs to become a force in the Premiership. Of course, King Kenny doesn't know anything about football.

Bernd Schuster already worried about drawing Liverpool in CL play

I didn't really expect anyone to be paying us any attention in the Champions League at least until after the Group Stage, but apparently we're causing Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster a little anxiety, which is surprising seeing how well his squad has started this season. In this article, the former German International has this to say about our side:

"Liverpool is not so attractive in it's game; it is an ugly team to play, hard and difficult. It is not necessary to remind people how tough they made it for Barcelona last season."

Though most newspapers are trying to play this up as Schuster talking a little smack, it looks as if they're just trying to sell papers. I think all he's saying is that we are great defensively and unpredictable on attack as much can be lost or added in translation.

The thing that baffles me is how he says that Man U has the best attack and Chelsea have the best defense. Has he watched either of these sides play this season? I have no doubts that a fully fit Man U squad with Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo, and Scholes firing on all cylinders are certainly a formidable attack, but Rooney's injured, Giggs and Scholes look a year older, and I guess we'll have to wait and see what post-suspension Ronaldo looks like. Nani and Tevez have been competent, but also look like two new players struggling to build chemistry with their new teammates.

As for Chelsea's defense, they are certainly capable of being an impenetrable fortress, but allowing two goals against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge and the two goals they allowed against Aston Villa this past weekend make them far from impressive nor in top form. I honestly think they should have never gotten rid of Diarra, but apparently that was unavoidable, and Alex has been far less impressive than he was at PSV last year.

Ultimately, if we can stay fit and maintain our current form, then sure, Schuster does have something to worry about, but to come out now and voice his concerns just doesn't make much sense.

Pepe Reina White Classic

Denying Chelsea European glory.