The five signings Liverpool missed out on this year

There were quite a few gems for taking at the beginning of the transfer window, unfortunately most of the young, talented future stars have been taken.

1. Alfred Finnbogason, 25, Real Sociedad
Real upgraded from Griezmann when they picked up the Icelandic striker from SC Heerenveen.  He lead all scorers in the Eredivisie last season with 29 goals and also added 10 assists from 57 chances created.  The season before he scored 24 times.  He doesn't have all the physical attributes to out-muscle or speed past his opponents and relies on positional instinct and clinical finishing to score.

2. Dušan Tadić, 25, Southampton
Another Eredivisie product, Tadić lead the Dutch league in assists with 14 and chances created with 133.  He also scored 16 goals.  Southampton got him for £11m, considerably less for what we paid for the player he replaced.  I wrote about him here.

3. Yann M'Vila, 24, Inter Milan
One of the best defensive midfielder prospects under the age of 25 in Europe, M'Vila has found himself on loan in Italy for the next year.  He'll probably use that time to impress a future suitor and there will be aplenty.  His physical prowess, passing ability, and defensive instincts allow him to dominate matches in Serie A, especially considering he is not the fastest of players.  He also has an eye for attack, in his last season with Rennes, the 2012-13 season, he created 43 chances and posted an impressive 7.7 successful long balls per 90 at a 67.7% rate.

4. Kelechi Iheanacho, 17, Man City
If you watched Liverpool's preseason 'victory' over Man City at Yankee Stadium July 30, you may have noticed Iheanacho, He the only City player to convert a penalty.  Iheanacho introduced himself to the world at U17 World Cup, where he put in a performance for the ages.  He scored 6 goals and assisted on 5 more, a 1.77 goal created per 90 average might I add, to lead Nigeria to the title and winning the Golden Ball in the process.  He added the 2013 CAF Most Promising Player of the Year award to his cabinet as well.

5. Álvaro Morata, 21, Juventus
Morata's abilities and potential have been well-documented elsewhere and though I think he'll be a goal-scoring machine at the Turin club, don't expect much else.  Does it matter though?  The former Real Madrid starlet has Golden Boot potential, last season he averaged a goal every 90 minutes played and his above-Serie A-average pace should lead him to a very fruitful Juventus career.  His physical attributes alone would leave one to believe he may one day be successful in the Prem as well.

'Inter is going to kill Liverpool'

That's all I heard going into our first elimination showdown from those who think they are in the know. I hope now they have a better understanding of how the footballing world works and some clue who the true ringmasters are... or maybe I should say puppets and puppet masters. Here's a clue, those with the strings attached to their arses are the team with the least amount of players on the pitch and those controlling the strings make the most money from matches. It's not rocket science.

The first match at Anfield was a joke nonetheless. With a man advantage and a ferocity of attack it was merely a matter of time before Liverpool netted. The second match was one of less subtlety. The surprise Torres goal seemed to spark a change of favoritism, atoned probably to in-game betting, but the ref could hardly keep his hand out of his card pocket with or without the smirk on his mug. A draw would have sufficed, a win for Liverpool was probably more profitable.

Now we have Arsenal and my first thoughts were, 'we've no chance.' The younger, more exciting Emirates side should in all reality have little trouble with the slower, less creative Reds. But one has to consider where the officiating crews' loyalties will lie. Hopefully not Arsenal, but who knows.

The coming schedule is brutal, but really, what is our goal? Fourth place and the Champions League? The latter negates the former, so what is more important? Obviously a trophy is nice but giving in and throwing away matches at Man United and Goodison Park are hard to fathom. I just don't see it.

The saddest casualty of the season was not Daniel Agger but Harry Kewell, who showed glimpses of past brilliance in the mere minutes his been able to play. Is Ryan Babel that much better than him right now? No. Hopefully King Harry will get a chance to once again shine with his future at Anfield now seemingly nonexistent.

Liverpool 2, Inter 0: The show must go on...

All we heard coming into this match is how this was Rafa's last stand or how 'awesome' Inter, the supposedly best side in Europe, was going to 'crush' Liverpool. Fueling the delusions of the betting man, whether intentional or not. Unfortunately this win was about as legit as our American owners promises of bringing back the glory days. Not that I think Liverpool wouldn't have won otherwise.

Even when it was eleven-all, the Reds were the better, if not dominate side. When Materazzi was sent off, it was merely a matter of time. The fact that 'the Matrix' was the subject of 'poor' refereeing is comical nonetheless. Here's a player, who when he actually plays football, is pretty good, but he's also smart enough to know that he doesn't to be effective. His 'style of play' makes it almost too easy for a ref to give advantage to an opposing side. Nevertheless the red card was undeserving, though the powers-at-be had to protect their most likely scoring prospect.

Once again Rafa got away with poor tactics by not starting Pennant on the right. Hate him for his style of play, shady past, skin-color, what may you will, JP was a key to what little success we had last year in the Premiership and the Champions League. Even in this match he was misused by his teammates, who appeared to have forgotten what it was like to play with him. Regardless, he still had a hand in both goals.

Taking out Babel, even for Pennant, was also a little baffling since he didn't appear fatigued and was still somewhat a threat. As was taking out Lucas for Crouch. Crouch was once again useless if not detrimental to his own side. Even with service from Finnan, Pennant, and Aurelio, the 'lanky one' did nothing. If he has to rely on the perfect pass to be effective, then he is essentially ineffective.

Kuyt, on the other hand, looked once again as if he was taking 'Cristiano Ronaldo' pills. Maybe he is taking the PESs that the Portuguese Prince and his teammates have been taking for years. If so, more power to him, it gave him actual pace and made some decent decisions with the ball. In other words, he didn't appear to be a liability.

No one was really outstanding for the entire match though Torres did put forth a commendable effort. Gerrard made up for small snafus with his brilliant strike and it appeared 'the ghost of Momo Sissoko' had possessed Mascherano at times. If I had to pick a man of the match, why not award the man who gifted us a relatively easy win, Frank De Bleeckere. Until the next farce, keep lying to yourself, reading spineless crap, and most of all, betting against Liverpool. Cheers.

A win tomorrow would be the worse possible thing

Here we are again at about the same point we were last year. All that's left is the Champions League and quite frankly, I hope that dream ends tomorrow... but it probably won't. Losing to Barnsley was nothing more than a confidence boost to all those poor betting addicts who think the Reds have no chance against the big, bad Internazionale. Go ahead, make your wager, it's a done deal. Bet the house, the kid's college money, and then make sure to have a rafter to set the noose. The show must go on.

Rafa made one glaring mistake in the Barnsley match and whether he did it intentionally or not, matters little. Babel, who was clearly our catalyst on attack, should have been left on the field until the final whistle. He appeared to be the only player with a clue about how to bring the ball up. My apologies to Xabi, of course, who once again displayed his brilliant passing abilities, but appears too timid to play too far forward, especially with the less-disciplined Lucas at his side.

I could beat a dead white elephant, but what's the point? Crouch is useless. He has no pace and even less creativity. Against a side that made Dirk Kuyt look like an Olympic class sprinter, Crouch was a witless turtle playing against apparently genius Championship-level hares. Not that Kuyt deserves any praise himself, he as well deserves no place on our club.

Where was Jermaine Pennant? When we finally got our act together in the league last season it was because of JP becoming the main ball-carrier and creator on attack. Yossi is not a true winger and having him out there supposedly playing that position only creates congestion and frustration. Having him out there with Crouch and Kuyt is borderline insane, stupid, or criminal, you can decide that which best fits your feelings.

Don't get me wrong, winning tomorrow would be great, except it would only see Rafa staying on longer and the American owners sticking around as well. Two things I could do without. Of course, the 'Golden Child' will be back and hopefully will stay fit for the entire contest and Masche will be back at Stevie-G's side.

As a supporter I have little reason to be optimistic about our club. A whole lot of change will have to happen this offseason for me to think otherwise. New owners, new manager, Crouch and Kuyt sold, Hyypia retired, Kewell apparently gone since he's no longer getting much playing time, and the infusion of some of the youngsters like Paul Anderson would be nice. What we be even more nicer would know Hicks' and Gillet's true agenda.

Sizing-up the Nerazzurri

It could have been much worse. We could have drawn Real Madrid or even A.C. Milan. It's not that I don't think we could beat those sides, it just would have been a more difficult task. Real is the deepest squad on the planet and from the looks of things, Milan doesn't have much else to play for, being essentially out of the Scudetto race already.

I personally think Inter is the most overrated club in Europe right now. Serie A is relatively weak this season, mostly due to the fall of Milan. When Udinese is the fourth place side, 16 games into the season while scoring only 20 goals, your league is fragile.

What worries me most is the second/away leg. It's set for March 11th, three days after Newcastle come to Anfield. I don't know why they didn't just schedule it for the 12th. Inter has a match two days prior, but that will probably be rescheduled now, though I doubt we'll get such accommodations.

I also can't wait to hear the rubbish that the Italian press will spew about our fans coming to Milan. I'm sure it will be flattering. The Italians have some of the most violent fans in the world, the English pale in comparison, but the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil policy is in full effect. Riots, stabbings, the killing of policeman, our fans are the ones that should be worried, granted most of it occurs in the Rome area and down south.

As for the actual matches, I see rather drab affairs. I expect them to slow things down as much as possible in both ties, especially at Anfield. Cruz and Zlatan don't worry me much, so we shouldn't have much trouble preventing them from scoring. The problem is, it's not going to be easy for us to net either. Certainly the magic of Torres and Gerrard would come in handy, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 0-0 results at the end of both matches, going to penalty kicks. Get studying, Pepe.

One more thing, I would love to see Mascherano take out Materazzi, especially if he starts with his cheating tactics. He's just horrible for the sport in general. Cheers.