Pepe Reina or Simon Mignolet?

Since Napoli have admitted they won't be able to pay Pepe Reina to stay, he may be sold to Arsenal at a discount of £5m.  I think most would agree it would be bad business to sell Reina to a competing club like Arsenal, but what if a lesser club like West Brom or even Villa come knocking?  Should Reina be given the chance to be our number 1 again?  Should we try to keep him as a back-up? I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't exactly blown away by Mignolet last season.  Let's look at the stats, two seasons ago for Reina and last season for Mignolet, league matches only.

	Reina	Mignolet
matches (sub)	31	38
clean sheets	14	10
goals allowed per	1.1	1.32
saves per match	1.35	1.97
saves per goal	1.27	1.7
avg claim success %	89	96
dist. success %	75	69
pass success %	70.8	67.3
aerial duel win %	85.7	83.3
long ball success %	45.8	39

The most important stats here are saves per goal and average claim success percentage, both of which go to Mignolet.  The 7% difference between the two keepers in ACSP is crippling to Reina if he has any aspirations to win his old job back.  It is an indication of what many think of the 31-year-old Spaniard: he takes unnecessary risks and has frequent momentary lapses of reason and concentration.

In his last couple of seasons, Reina appeared to be more interested in trying to create goal scoring opportunities instead of trying to prevent them.  The thing is, he's quite good at contributing to the attack, much more so than Mignolet, but what's the point if you can't do your primary job as a keeper?  I would even argue that Reina had a better defense in front of him than Mignolet does now.

Reina had Jamie Carragher and a healthy Jose Enrique for most of the season.  Though Carra was in his twilight year, he knew his limitations, made few mistakes, and was in command of Liverpool's defense, even when he wasn't on the pitch.  When he was, Carragher rarely went forward as much as Agger, Skrtel, and Sakho tend to.  The thing about Mignolet is that he doesn't take command like a keeper should and if that doesn't change, he should find his way somewhere else soon.

Carragher just says no, family more important than exhibition football

Blasphemy! Treason! Break out the tar, start plucking the chickens! Someone is talking sense in England and it's not that reputable blog, 'Talking Soccer'.

You can't blame Fabio Capello for trying though, Jamie Carragher is one of the best defenders in England, but years of being abused and disrespected by previous Three Lions heads has left a bad taste in the mouth of the 29-year-old man from Bootle. A brief period away from the national squad has poisoned him with discretion, what's the point of putting up with the unrealistic expectations and negative auspices of small-minded English fans when he could be spending time with his family?

Ultimately though, his return would do neither himself nor the squad any good. At the very most he would still only be available for a couple of more years, basically for some of the World Cup qualifying matches, but mainly for even more meaningless exhibition matches. There's simply no way the Three Lions will make it to the World Cup if they are relying on 30-somethings to get them there, and it's not as if they'll be allowed to win it anyhow. Might as well start breaking-in the chicks.

Carragher's momentous decision to leave the England side this past summer has been a godsend for Liverpool. The fact that he received such negative backlash is beyond rubbish, especially when you consider United players faking injuries and collecting early match red cards to avoid international duty usually go unquestioned. If Carra had remained available to Steve McClaren, he would have certainly been selected to start in most of the Three Lions Euro-qualifying matches in the late summer and fall. Only due to injuries to other players though.

That would have left Rafa with little choice but to force-integrate Jack Hobbs into the squad quicker than desired or have Arbeloa play more at centre back. Either way, with the injury to Agger, we would have been that much thinner and shakier on the back line, as one can't expect Carragher to play two games a week for three months straight.

Jamie Carragher is not the answer to England's national team issues anyhow. In fact, the real problem is that the English still believe the squad should be an actual representation of the country. That kind of thinking is simply passé. What they need to do is go the way of France and treat it more like club football, recruiting promising youngsters from foreign countries, relocating them and their families to England, setting up their parents with employment and falsifying the necessary documentation to make them citizens. Oh, and if there's any inquiry, just slip Sepp Blatter an envelope full of money.

Today's Banter: Cappello to replace Rafa?, City in for Masche, Beşiktaş rout fixed?, & more

Apparently, Fabio Capello was contacted by the club before the Porto match to see if he would be interested in replacing Rafa, had the position opened. No word on what his response was, but it's looking more and more likely that Benitez is here to stay. I personally wouldn't mind the former AC Milan/Real Madrid/AC Milan/AS Roma/Juventus/Real Madrid manager taking over, as he has shown in the past that he's capable of taking a squad full of players that were there before he arrived and making them champions, but in the end, Rafa staying on board is best for the club.

In the rubbish transfer rumor of the day, Sven allegedly fancies Mascherano and is looking to place a bid of £17m for the defensive midfielder in the January transfer. Apparently Masche's 'owners', MSI, want to have him under contract to a club for next year by the end of the month. Seriously, I don't think Rafa is going anywhere, but if the owners don't think signing the Argentine to a permanent is our top objective come January, I wouldn't blame Benitez for handing in his notice. Anyhow, if Javier does leave, I doubt he'll stay in England when he can go to Juventus or Barcelona.

UEFA and Platini once again are making donkeys of themselves. "The European governing body has received information that 26 games in the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup may have been fixed since 2005 with Liverpool's 8-0 drubbing of the Turkish club at Anfield - the highest score in Europe's premier competition - among those allegedly involved." Apparently a lot of higher winning margin bets were placed on LFC just before kick off and a few Beşiktaş players might have been paid off not to give their all. Platini should know what a fixed match looks-like and it's not 8-0, it's usually 2-1 with an allowed handball goal or maybe 1-1 with a questionable penalty. Anyhow, it won't matter in the end, it appears nobody at the club were involved and another scandal to distract Marseilles may be just what the doctor ordered.

Finally, due to the fact that Jamie Carragher is playing with fire, Jack Hobbs may get the start at Reading to prevent the Bootle icon and our side from getting burnt. Carra did have to leave the Bolton match early due to sore ribs, but that's not why he may start from the bench on Saturday. He also has four yellow cards, a fifth will earn him a one-game suspension and force him out of the Man U match on the 16th. If Hobbs can maintain the composure he showed in the second half against the Trotters, I don't see why he can't do the same at the Madejski this weekend. Maybe the 19-year-old centre back can take confidence that he made his Liverpool debut at the Reading stadium just two-and-a-half months back.

I'll be back later with a Kids Watch recap from all of yesterday's action including our Reserves thumping Everton, 3-0. Cheers.

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.

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.

Liverpool vs Fulham: What will Rafa do?

The big question going into this match is what kind of part will Fernando Torres play? From what I've read, it appears that Rafa is contemplating starting the Spaniard. Apparently he's looked good in training, but I'd be a little shocked if he started. There has also been some speculation as to whether or not Rafa will start the same XI he did against Beşiktaş. I'll go ahead and save everyone the trouble, he won't. So with that...

In front of Reina, starting on the left, I'd be shocked not to see Aurelio. He looked pretty sharp on Tuesday and I would hope that Rafa would want to keep the Brazilian that way. In the middle we'll probably see Hyypia and Carra, not only because Arbeloa is the only other choice here, but also because the two elder Reds didn't have to expend much energy against Beşiktaş. Finally on the right I suspect Steve Finnan will get the nod against his former club. Arbeloa should be on the bench.

In the midfield, I don't know why because he was probably our worse player on Tuesday, but Rafa will probably start Riise. I'd personally rather see Kewell or even Benayoun, but I think the Norwegian will get the nod. In the middle I'm gonna say Sissoko and Mascherano, even though it'll probably be Gerrard paired with the Argentine. Finally on the right, it's either Gerrard or Benayoun, I'll decide shortly.

Up front I'm hoping Rafa starts the Dutch connection and gives Kuyt and Babel the call. Like it or not, Kuyt's part of the rotation. He lead us in goals in the league last year and he'll eventually get it going.

So here's my final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Mascherano
Sissoko
Gerrard
Kuyt
Babel

Bench:
Martin
Arbeloa
Lucas
Torres
Benayoun

I changed my mind and put Kewell in for Riise. Probably wishful thinking, but oh well. I fully expect Torres to get a running out and for Lucas to get on if the Masche-Momo pairing isn't working or if we need a boost. I know Voronin is no where to be found but I honestly think the less he plays, the better he seems to be.

The thing I'll be looking for in this match is if we come out early with our blitzkrieg-style that we have been using since the last twenty minutes of the Blackburn match. Even if we don't create a goal early, we need to keep on pushing until we crack their defenses. One goal and as long as we keep going at the Cottagers, the floodgates will open. I don't expect another 8-0 or even 6-0, but 4-0 is very realistic and I hope Kuyt gets at least one for his confidence. Cheers.

Today's Banter: De-constructing Rafa, Babel babble, & A look at our depth

There isn't really much going on in the world of Liverpool Football Club, just reiterations of yesterday's headlines, so I've decided to just ramble on about a bunch of nonsense. Feel free to share your opinions below.

Before I go down that long and winding (or winded, which ever you prefer) road, there's an excellent piece on Rafa's obsession with our club and football in general by Oliver Kay at the Independent.ie. It gives good reason to laugh at all those who feel as if they are obligated to criticize the boss' managerial decisions. He puts in the time and has the trophies to prove it.

Anyhow, moving on, I think it's time Ryan Babel is made a permanent part of our striker force, don't you? From the looks of our last three matches, Rafa may have already decided to do so. He started there against Cardiff and when Kewell came on for Voronin in the Beşiktaş match, the young Dutchman was moved up to partner Crouch. He appears more comfortable there anyhow and in fact, when he plays for the Netherlands, that's his normal spot.

It seems as if when he does occupy the left, he's basically trying to play the role of a forward instead of a winger anyhow. Though I think it would be great if he learned to be effective on the flank, his talent seems best suited up front. With Harry Kewell back to share left wing duties with Riise and occasionally Benayoun, Babel is really no longer needed over there.

Which brings me to squad depth. Just for kicks, let's take a gander:

GK - Pepe Reina, Charles Itandje (inj), David Martin
LB - John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua (res)
CB(2) - Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger (inj), Sami Hyypia, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jack Hobbs
RB - Steve Finnan, Alvaro Arbeloa, Stephen Darby (res)
LM - John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Sebastian Leto (res)
HM - Javer Mascherano, Xabi Alonso (inj), Momo Sissoko
AM - Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Xabi Alonso (inj), Momo Sissoko
RM - Jermaine Pennant (inj), Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel
F2 - Dirk Kuyt, Andriy Voronin, Peter Crouch
F1 - Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Peter Crouch

(I put in bold who I believe to be our ideal starter at that spot, (inj) = injured, and (res) = primarily a Reserves player but capable of filling in on the first team on an emergency basis.)

The thing that stands out to me is our lack of depth at centre back. With Babel establishing himself as a forward, our focus during the January transfer window has to be a class centre back at any cost. Even when Agger gets back, having Jack Hobbs even in the depth chart is a scary aspect. The kid may be good one day, but he's still very raw.

The depth on the flanks is great, but most goals are scored from the middle of the field. One of the most positive results of the Beşiktaş match was that Hyypia and Carra had to do very little, which means they'll probably be pretty fresh come Saturday. After that, there's a two week layoff for the international break, which means when the team plays again at St. James Park on the 24th, we could have a full, fresh squad including Danny Agger and possibly Xabi Alonso.

Some other links to kill some time:
- Before there was Stevie Finnan, there was Jimmy Willis
- Carra calls on the entire squad to improve

Liverpool vs Beşiktaş: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Crouch

Bench:
Martin
Kuyt
Babel
Finnan
Torres
Kewell
Lucas

I guess Kewell is playing the part of the super-sub. No excuses for Crouch today, he either performs or drops in the ranks again. Surprised to see Riise on the pitch after such a horrible match on Saturday, but Rafa rarely sits a player just because of one bad outing. Also, where's Sissoko? Is he sick again?

I think our biggest question will be how Hyypia performs on just three days rest. He didn't really do much running around in the Blackburn match, which I guess is a plus. Hopefully if he starts to falter, Rafa will bring in Finnan for the Finn and move Arbeloa over.

Torres is on the bench, but I doubt he'll play. Cheers.

(Edit: Well, I just noticed that Markus Merk is the head official. Not only that, but the whole officiating team is Germany. You know, sort of like Herbert Fandel...)

Today's Banter: Beşiktaş 'lip service', Pako to Valencia, & Gerrard backs Kuyt

Going into today's match, it appears we're getting the same old lip-service. Gerrard wants the squad to treat it like a cup final. We haven't heard that one before, oh wait, we have, two weeks ago in Istanbul. A lot of good it did then and a lot of good it'll do now. To put it plainly, 'Talk is cheap.' I'm personally tired of rallying-calls like this, it only matters what you do on the pitch.

Jamie Carragher also added his two cents to the cliché piggy bank by saying that we thrive on pressure. Well, good then, maybe our players should get paid according the results of how they handle that pressure.

Finally, Rafa plays the 'importance of the fans' card. Yeah, you don't want to forget about them. I know papers and sites need to write about something, but they should save themselves some time and money and instead of interviewing Rafa and the players, they should just write down all the normal banal pre-match jargon on little slips of paper, put them in a hat, and then pull one out and attribute to what ever it says to a certain person. Seriously, I think I get dumber reading these things.

On the flipside, we have Beşiktaş midfielder Matías Delgado who talks more junk than a heroin addict. The 24-year-old Argentine doesn't hold back at all in predicting a win for the Turkish side. Some of his comments are laughable though, 'In Istanbul we deserved the victory and played a sensational match.' Really? Because from my perspective we dominated the match, only failed to finish our chances, and your side only committed three fouls. That last point is so ludicrous, I won't start, but Delgado needs to send Platini a nice bottle of wine. Furthermore Delgado states: 'This Liverpool side is vulnerable and not the super team of previous seasons.' What season are you talking about? 2005? When we needed a couple of miracles to win the Champions League? And yes, we're vulnerable due to injury. Great analysis though. God I hope we crush this idiot, his arrogance precedes him.

Moving on, it looks like Pako Ayestaran might end up back at Valencia as an assistant to recently hired manager Ronald Koeman. I personally think Pako's role with the team has been over-stressed and his departure has been exploited as another cheap-shot at Rafa for our current dip in form. How Ayestaran left the club, whether he was asked to resign by Rafa or left on his own accord, is not clear, so any speculation about the matter is frivolous. It has always been the intentions of 44-year-old Spaniard to return to Spain anyhow. On a different note, in that article it alludes to Valencia fans in a recent match chanting for the club to bring back Benitez. At least he'd be appreciated there.

Finally we have Stevie-G throwing himself behind Dirk Kuyt in support of the Dutch striker despite the latter's recent goal-scoring issues. Gerrard actually says some worthwhile things in that article including: 'Missing chances is part and parcel of football. I’ve missed chances in the past and no doubt I’ll miss them again. The important thing is how you react...' & 'There’s no point picking on individuals when we don’t win. We win as a team, we draw as a team and we lose as a team, and that’s all there is to it.' Sounds like the words of a true leader. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Blackburn 0: player grades

Before I get to my grades, let me say a couple of things. First off, until you accept that we just aren't good enough to win the League this year, the easier to take results like today's. We are at least a dynamic class striker and probably a solid, consistent centre back away from challenging Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal for the title.

Second, I do these grades as a reflection of a players contribution to the team and their effort to solidify the whole and be a sufficient cog in the machine. Rarely does one player's performance win a match, about as close as I've seen anyone do that was Steven Gerrard's efforts in the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham. Anyhow, moving on...

Pepe Reina C+
Finally got a clean sheet after going the whole month of October without one. The usual solid performance.

Riise C-
A strange effort from the Norwegian. He didn't participate much on attack than usual, but didn't really make any mistakes otherwise.

Carragher C+
Solid as usual. The yellow card was rubbish.

Hyypia C+
Seemed like the Hyypia of old at times. Staying back was a good idea.

Finnan C+
Typical Finney, did his job on defense and contributed to the attack.

Babel C-
Would have liked him to play in front of Kuyt instead of on the left. His effort might have been affected by lack of rest, but for the most part he was ineffective and held on to the ball too long at times.

Mascherano B-
I expect more from him, but he was pretty much my Man of the Match and controlled the middle of the field throughout.

Sissoko C+
One of the better games I've seen him play this season. Was patient and composed on the ball and made some solid tackles.

Gerrard C+
A goal would have accentuated his effort tremendously, but he was playing 'out of position' most the match and occasionally looked beat.

Kuyt D
Dirk is not a true 'out-and-out' striker, so I might be being a little harsh on him. At the same time, when he was gifted the opportunity to show what I feel is his best element, his passing and vision, he failed miserably to do so and basically made me look like a donkey. Not sure what happened to the cheeky, creative Kuyt from earlier in the season, but we need him back and fast.

Benayoun C-
I don't want to use the analogy of a 'headless chicken' here but Benayoun seemed utterly useless out there. Like Babel, he tended to hold on the ball too long with defenders closing in, and wasn't so much as detrimental to our attack as he was simply daft overall. Probably his worse performance of the year.

Crouch C+
Well, well, well, Crouch finally utilized his strengths and put in a solid showing. More of using his height to manipulate the ball is what we have him for. Enjoy the praise while you can Crouchy, we play again on Tuesday.

Kewell C+
This was only a taste of what King Harry can offer. It's no coincidence that once he got on the field and when the attack started going through him we became more of a threat to score. With him and Gerrard on the pitch, we're going to run opposition's batty.

Well, there you have it. Had Kewell played the entire match, I'm quite comfortable in saying that we would have probably scored and he would have probably been the Man of the Match. Javi takes the accolade though for being the central figure of our side and the wrecking ball that we have him for. Cheers.

Liverpool at Blackburn: The Line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Riise
Carra
Hyypia
Finnan
Benayoun
Mascherano
Sissoko
Gerrard
Babel
Kuyt

Subs:
Martin
Arbeloa
Lucas
Crouch
Kewell

Voronin getting some time off it seems. I guess Rafa is saving him for a Crouch/Voronin start next week with Besiktas coming to Anfield. Babel starts up front again I presume. Like it. Hopefully Kewell will get some significant time on. I'm not optimistic about this one.

Liverpool 2, Cardiff 1: Player Grades

I know this is late, but I just got to watch this for a second time and don't really feel like doing a complete review. So instead I offer you my opinion on individual performances.

Itandje C+
His most impressive performance for us so far, made a couple of great saves and the goal really wasn't his fault. Did overplay a couple of shots though.

Aurelio B-
Am I the only one who was impressed with Fabio's performance? The Brazilian seemed to be on his game all night long and made some great crosses into the box, not to mention a nasty shot trying to catch the Bluebird keeper off-guard.

Carragher C-
Probably the most lackadaisical performance I've ever seen him give.

Hobbs C-
Made some glaring mistakes that could have cost us against a more formidable opponent, but was the best effort I've ever seen from him.

Arbeloa C
He was sufficient, made no apparent mistakes, but seemed to give just an adequate effort.

Leto C+
Gave a solid effort and tried to be a factor even when he didn't have the ball. Was unlucky at times.

Steven Gerrard C+
I felt as if he treated this game as a run-through. Was unlucky not to score another goal nonetheless.

Lucas Leiva C+
His effort diminished as the game wore on, but seemed to be everywhere at times.

Nabil El Zhar B-
The goal definitely accentuated his performance, but his discipline to stay out on the wing at times really opened up the middle and gave us a lot of chances.

Ryan Babel B
My man of the match. He was untiring and created a lot opportunities for himself and others, unfortunately there always seemed to be a Cardiff player there to block the path of his shots.

Peter Crouch C-
Redeemed himself in the second half from another anti-Crouch rant. He still got in the way too much and needs to work on utilizing his strengths.

Yossi Benayoun B
Was outstanding and probably should have a goal to go with his assist.

Harry Kewell C+
Not really sure what position he was playing, but he appeared head and shoulders above the opposition.

Javier Mascherano N/A
Barely played, made no mistakes.

So there you go, half-assed, I know, but honestly, we really didn't give that much of an effort in that match. That's just how I feel. Cheers.

Liverpool at Blackburn: What will Rafa do?

Some may be surprised about Blackburn's form, but I'm not. I predicted it in the preseason. They have the necessary talent to challenge for a Champions League spot, but they're going to need a little bit of luck and most of their key players to stay healthy, that usually goes hand-in-hand though.

With that said, it's going to take a solid performance from our best available XI to go to Ewood and pull off the upset. That's right, I said 'upset'. If we had Torres, Xabi, and Agger, and a well-rested Gerrard and Carragher, I would think otherwise, but you're out of your mind if you think we're in better shape than the Rovers.

Since our keeper is a given, I guess I'll go ahead and start with the back-line. On the left I expect Riise to start, though he didn't play in the Cardiff match, I hope the wageslip controversy he's experiencing doesn't distract him. If it does, I'm sure Aurelio will be on the bench to take his place. In the middle, I have little doubt that Carra and Hyypia will get the call. I would say Arbeloa for Hyypia, but the Spaniard played the full match on Wednesday and Sami had the night off. Finally, a rested Finnan will start on the right.

In midfield, I fully expect Kewell to start on the left, but wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. If not expect Babel over there. The only question in regards to the central midfield is who will be paired with Mascherano. I suspect it'll be Gerrard, but it could be a recovered Sissoko or even Lucas. I would love to see the Brazilian here, but he did look spent at the end of the Cardiff match. Finally, on the right, I'm gonna guess Benayoun.

Up front we'll probably see Kuyt and Voronin, neither of which played in the Cardiff match. For the most part they've appeared to be futile when paired together, but let's just hope this time is different.

My final guess:
Reina
Riise
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Kuyt

Bench:
Itandje
Aurelio
Arbeloa
Crouch
Babel

That seems to be a pretty formidable attack, if we can stay out of each other's way. I'll be surprised if we get all three points tomorrow and pleased if we get the draw. With all our injuries lately, we need to just weather the storm.

AB Awards for October

October was a month to forget record-wise. We played a half-dozen matches, winning a pair (@Everton, Cardiff City), drawing a pair (Tottenham, Arsenal), and amazingly losing both our Champions League ties (Marseilles, @Beşiktaş). Injuries devastated us with no less than 8 regulars missing matches and causing others to have to play when they would be rested otherwise. Not to mention, if you include his ties for England, Steven Gerrard had to play in no less than eight matches last month, six in an eighteen day period. The most amazing stat is that after getting seven shutouts in the first two months of play, we failed to blank a single opponent in October. If that doesn't tell you how much we miss Daniel Agger, I don't know what does. Anyhow, on to the awards.

Player of the Month
The only real candidates for this accolade in my opinion are Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Steve Finnan. Carragher gave it his all in every match and looked utterly spent by the end of most of them and Finnan was consistent as ever, but with the amount of matches he's played, showing the integrity to work his way back to class form, and ending the month scoring his third goal in as many games, Gerrard, to me, is the most deserving.

Unsung hero of the month
This one is between the two players that just never seem to get the proper credit they deserve, probably because they are always business as usual and leave the glitz and glamor at home. If you don't know which two players I'm talking about, it's Jamie Carragher and Steve Finnan. With Arbeloa injured, Finney was asked to play a lot more than his 31-year-old body can probably handle, especially when you add his appearances for Ireland, but the Irishman never seemed to miss a beat and was his normal reliable self. Unfortunately he has a teammate named Carra who had the responsibility of making up for a subpar Hyypia. Hopefully Agger will return in due time.

Bench player of the month
Lucas, hands down. His effort against Everton won him this award alone.

Goal of the Month
I have this down to three: Torres versus Tottenham, Nabil El Zhar versus Cardiff, and Gerrard versus Arsenal. The first goal was a brilliant header finish to equalize and save us a point, but I have to give Steve Finnan partial credit for getting the assist. The second is just brilliant especially considering it was Nabil's first in a Liverpool kit. The award goes to Gerrard versus Arsenal, though because it was a classic Stevie-G effort and allowed me to breathe a little easier.

Assist of the Month
Though Benayoun's effort yesterday is worth a mention, only one assist came to mind: Finnan's assist to Torres to get the equalizer versus Tottenham.

Player-out-on-loan Award
Few candidates for this one as most of our boys seem to either be having it tough getting playing time or are fighting fitness. The only two that come to mind are Paul Anderson at Swansea and Danny Guthrie at Bolton. Though Guthrie either played or was on the bench for all six Wanderers' matches last month, Paul Anderson has to get the nod. The 19-year-old winger featured in all of the Swans matches in October, scoring three goals and helping them to a 5-0 record. He is looking more and more like the real deal, but a spell in the Championship next season should be the next step. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Arsenal: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Riise
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Voronin
Mascherano
Alonso
Gerrard
Torres
Kuyt

Subs:
Itandje
Babel
Benayoun
Crouch
Arbeloa

Voronin to start on the left... interesting, but he did so with Bayer Leverkusen at times and has played over there for us briefly as well.

Liverpool vs Arsenal: What will Rafa do?

For this match, I'm praying that Benitez thinks both Xabi and Torres are fit enough to start. If so, we could possibly field are best side this year yet.

The only good thing to come out of Jermaine Pennant's injury is that Gerrard is probably our best option on the right now. I used to be one who was opposed to our captain playing there, but that was mainly because Pennant is naturally adept at that spot and his form seemed to get better the more he played that position.

With that said, I feel we will see Stevie-G start over there tomorrow. Ryan Babel and Benayoun are options, but I think Yossi is more likely to feature on the left and we have to start our best available eleven, which leaves the Dutchman as the odd man out.

Unfortunately I don't have any inside sources at the club unlike every single Rafa rotation critic, so I don't know who's fit and who's not. All I can do is speculate whether or not Arbeloa or Kewell can go tomorrow. My guess is that Arbeloa will start and Kewell might be on the bench. King Harry only played the first half of our Reserves match on Thursday, so I think there is a possibility he could contribute in some capacity.

Well, here's who I would play if possible:
Reina
Riise
Carragher
Arbeloa
Finnan
Benayoun
Mascherano
Xabi
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Hyypia
Sissoko
Crouch
Babel or Kewell

I'm not sure what to expect tomorrow. I don't feel that Arsenal is overconfident and we certainly aren't feeling good about our form of late. A 2-2 draw seems to be somehow stuck in my head, especially with Howard Webb calling the match, but I'm hoping we get all three points. Anyhow...

Today's Banter: Agger not injured? Buys a couple of eateries, Carra unveils cash machine, & Finnan fitness fight

- Despite reading several reports saying he had injured his hand, apparently Danny Agger is okay. Supposedly the reason he was taken out in the Latvia match was because he was already booked, but looking at the official report from UEFA, this is not the case. Maybe he was being a bit reckless and out of fear of receiving a card he was substituted, I don't know, I didn't get to see the match.

- Speaking of the 22-year-old defender, apparently he's decided to enter the wonderfully stressful world of restaurant ownership. The Dane has purchased two eateries in Liverpool, one Mexican and the other Italian. I hope he has a partner he can trust because the last thing the club needs is him not fully concentrating on football. Good luck Danny and here's to hoping you don't get a visit from Gordon Ramsey.

- Jamie Carragher was part of a ceremony to open a fee-free ATM in his hometown of Bootle. I'm not sure what part Carra is playing in the matter other than bringing attention to the cause, but kudos to him, even if it is a bit odd.

- Rounding up who'll be available for tomorrow's trip to Portsmouth, it appears more and more likely that Finnan will not. With Agger apparently not injured, that's not much of a blow as first thought as Arbeloa can cover the right. Everyone else who was on international duty including Steven Gerrard will be available, though I don't expect Stevie-G to play. And unless you've been living under a rock, Carra is set to make his return. Cheers.

International Update: Agger injured?

From the looks of it, none of our boys suffered any major injuries today. In fact, some didn't even play which is awesome because it means there's a good chance they'll be available for Saturday at Portsmouth. Here's a round-up by player:

Sami Hyypia, Finland
Played the full ninety in his side's 0-0 draw with Poland. A win here would have been huge for the Finns chances of advancing, but since Portugal ended up tying as well, they stay in second place and live to fight another day. I doubt the 33-year-old will play versus Portsmouth considering this is his second full match in a row.

Andriy Voronin, Lithuania
Came in as a sub in the 60th minute in his country's disappointing loss in Kiev to Italy. They are pretty much eliminated from advancing now. His limited time on the pitch definitely makes him a possibility for Saturday. How you don't start Voronin in what is basically a must-win beats the snot out of me.

John Arne Riise, Norway
Riise scored an absolute cracker of a goal versus Greece today, but it wasn't enough as his side took a slight blow to their Euro advancing dreams with the 2-2 draw. I don't expect Riise to play Saturday, but he's known for his fitness and despite playing the full match, he is a possibility.

Craig Bellamy, Wales
Oops.

Steven Gerrard, England
Played the full 90 in the Three Lions crucial 3-0 victory over Russia which I guess it's good news since it means he's fit, but I doubt he'll play versus Portsmouth.

Peter Crouch, England
Came on with 10 minutes remaining for England in place of Emile Heskey. Will probably be on the bench on Saturday, but I doubt we'll see him play. Rafa will probably want to save him for our Champions League clash with FC Porto next Tuesday.

Daniel Agger, Denmark
Agger was substituted in the 28th minute of the Danes 4-0 romp over Liechtenstein. No news as of yet whether it was serious, but let's keep our fingers crossed. Losing a centre back could potentially be devastating for our side right now.

Fernando Torres, Spain
Torres played the full match and scored on a rebound in the 86th minute to assure his side's victory over Latvia. As long as he is deemed fit, I wouldn't be surprised to see Torres start against Portsmouth.

Pepe Reina, Spain
Didn't play, will start Saturday.

Ryan Babel, Netherlands
Played the full ninety for the Dutch in their last second 1-0 win over Albania, he's young though and I expect him to at least be on the bench Saturday.

Dirk Kuyt, Netherlands
Edit: Well, I just watched a majority of this match and it appeared that Kuyt was in the whole time, so it's unclear whether he'll play this weekend or not.

As soon as here something about Agger I'll post it. I'm just thankful we'll have Yossi, Xabi, JP, Arbeloa, and Momo ready for action. Cheers.

We should be all right Saturday at Portsmouth

I'm crossing my fingers that our boys on international duty get through the day tomorrow unscathed, but from the looks of the squad that we played against the Crewe Alexandra Reserves today, they might get the day off anyhow.

The starting line-up looked something like this:
GK - David Martin
LB - Fabio Aurelio
CB - Jack Hobbs
CB - Xabi Alonso
RB - Alvaro Arbeloa
LM - Sebastian Leto
CM - Momo Sissoko
CM - Lucas Leiva
RB - Jermaine Pennant
F - Yossi Benayoun
F - Jordy Brouwer

The second half line-up:
GK - David Martin
LB - Robbie Threlfall
CB - Mikael San Jose
CB - Ronald Huth
RB - Stephen Darby
LM - Ray Putterill
CM - Damien Plessis
CM - Jay Spearing
RM - Ryan Flynn
F - Craig Lindfield
F - Dani Pacheco

A couple of things come to mind. First, where is Emiliano Insua? I didn't see him named as part of the Argentina squad, so I'm assuming he's injured. That's not good, I hope it's nothing serious. Second, surprised not to see Carra. If he's expected to play Saturday and he didn't today, maybe that means we'll definitely see Aurelio get the start against Portsmouth. Finally, where's Harry Kewell?

Anyhow, it looks like we'll have a competent line-up on Saturday, though I doubt we'll see Xabi line-up with Carra at centre-back. To help us out, it would be nice to see Spain go up by a couple of goals early and allow Torres to take it easy the rest of the match and be fresh on Saturday. Also, I know I'm asking for the sky to rain dollar bills, but it'd be great if either Babel or Kuyt got the day off against Albania. If we can at least get a rested Torres back, we should be fine at Pompey.

Today's Banter: Carra training, Atletico want Reina, Crouch stalls contract, Cheryl Cole praises fans, & Kewell returns!!!

- Reports are that Carra returned to training today and will be ready for action on Saturday when we travel to Portsmouth. Great news considering how many players we have out on international duty including Hyypia and Agger. Hopefully everyone will return fit and rested, Pompey at Fratton Park will be no easy test.

- Apparently Atletico Madrid are keen on Pepe Reina and are putting together a bid for him in the realm of £10m to offer LFC in the January transfer window. Whether this is true or not, I wonder if Rafa would consider selling Pepe. £10m is a respectable offer and we do have Scott Carson on the books yet on loan to Aston Villa. I doubt he'd sell him in January though unless he could recall Carson.

- Peter Crouch, who's current contract expires at the end of next season, has apparently been offered a three year extension from the club. Supposedly though, he's withholding his signature to see what kind of playing time he's going to get this season. What an ass, he knows what kind of playing time he's going to get, so he needs to commit his future or gotten rid of. I've been for the latter for the past year or so anyhow.

- Cheryl Cole has praised Liverpool fans for their unconditional love of their club and players and thinks England fans should be the same way. The problem is fans of Liverpool know that the people who run their club, love LFC, while those who run England, the FA, do things that say otherwise. For starters, they would have gotten a class coach at what ever cost.

- Harry Kewell returns to action tomorrow night for the Reserves versus Crewe Alexandra Reserves. Well, that's promising. I'm hoping he'll be able to play this Saturday so we can give Babel and Yossi a little rest from International duty. Despite the rise of the new signings, we need Kewell as a key contributor this season if we want to go after all the silverware. Cheers.