Today's Banter: Mourinho to replace Rafa?, Torres back in training, Benitez backs Kuyt, Babel, & more

Well, first let's get to the ridiculous rumor of the day. Apparently Jose Mourinho is interested in taking over at Liverpool if Rafa were to leave. I don't think 'The Special One' has thought this one through though. First, unlike at Chelsea, he would not have the resources to build a squad to his liking. He'll have some funds available to him and will probably be able to scrape up more by selling players he deems undesirable, but there's quite a gap between Abramovich money and Gillett/Hicks money. Second, does he really want to put up with the criticism he will most likely receive if he doesn't win the Champions League or Premiership title in the first season? The press and some 'fans' just don't live in reality in summing up our prospects and ability. Chelsea had little if any history or success before Mourinho, so he was pretty much their saviour and could do little wrong. The impatience among the so-called Liverpool faithful and the press seems almost viral at this point. Benitez wants to build the squad using players groomed and tested in the Academy and the Reserves, I don't understand what is so difficult to comprehend about that plan.

Moving on, it appears that Fernando Torres has already returned to training and could even be on the bench for Fulham on Saturday. The problem I see with that is it might give Luis Aragonés the idea that the 23-year-old Spaniard is available for Spain's Euro-qualifier with Sweden on November 17th. The last thing we need is for El Niño to get injured playing or training for his country again. We don't need the next Harry Kewell in that aspect.

The main course of today's banter meal appears to be the Kuyt/Crouch controversy. First off, unfortunately people, pundits, press, and bloggers need to be reminded that hindsight is 20-20 and that not knowing what Rafa knows, makes it a whole lot easier to criticize. In other words, you don't know who's slightly knocked, who's fatigued, nor who Rafa will need for our next match, which is coming up fast on Tuesday. Kuyt worked hard yet failed to take advantage of the opportunities afforded him. In my opinion, he was playing out-of-position at the true striker spot when his talents are much better utilized in the second striker position.

One of the arguments is that Rafa should have brought Crouch in for Kuyt and done so earlier in the match. I honestly think Rafa was trying to preserve Crouch for Tuesday's match with Besitkas and wanted to use the England International as sparingly as possible. As for bringing him in for Kuyt, well that would have crippled our efforts even more as Crouch appeared to take up and excel at the second striker position, pushing the ball forward to Kuyt, Gerrard, and Kewell with the use of headers. One other point I want to make is that it seems Harry Kewell is not getting the proper credit he deserves. The Aussie was just as much if not more so a contributor than Crouch to our sudden onslaught of attack late in the Blackburn match. I guess self-aggrandizement requires blinders.

Anyhow, I was glad to read that Benitez is in full support of not only Kuyt, but Babel as well. I feel most of the Kuyt criticism stems from a misunderstanding of the situation, but I can see why people were disappointed in his performance on Saturday. I was one of them after all. Kuyt is playing hard and giving it his all, but being played out-of-position and having to adjust your game to hinder your strengths are always potential recipes for a poor outing. As for Babel, after being arguably our man-of-the-match against Cardiff, the young Dutchman would have probably been suited to start from the bench, but Rafa didn't have the luxury to do so.

Before moving on and while I'm on the subject of the Cardiff match, I've read in a lot of other people's reviews and posts about the Blackburn match the questioning of why Lucas wasn't played. Well, first off he looked spent at the end of Wednesday's Carling Cup qualifying match and second, do you not think Rafa would have played him if he thought the young Brazilian would have been able to make a positive contribution? This second guessing Rafa is getting to the point of idiocy. He does what he does for the benefit of the club, why would he do otherwise? Use some common sense.

Finally, on the transfer speculation, we apparently now seem to be the front-runners for Burnley youngster John Cofie and are willing to pay £8m for a Spanish defensive midfielder named Juan de Dios Prados. The former is only 15-years-old, has been chased by Man U and Chelsea among other suitors, and would probably be an Academy player and possibly never heard of again. I know that may be negative, but odds are he, along with most Academy products, won't make it to the first team. As for Prados, if we pay £8m for a 21-year-old defensive midfielder when we already have Mascherano, Sissoko, and Damien Plessis, I have to believe that we either aren't going to re-sign Masche, which is insane, Sissoko is gone in January, which could happen but I doubt it, or Plessis will never play for the first team, which is possible, but from what I've seen from him, he's quite capable. Of course, that rumor may all very well be a pile of rubbish. 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.

Today's Banter: Allardyce calls Rafa 'lucky', Love for Arbeloa & Pennant, Porto smack talk begins, & more

- Sam Allardyce, who's Newcastle side lost to Derby 0-1 yesterday, the same Derby County we dismantled 6-0 a few weeks back, has stated that Rafa is 'very lucky' to still be employed with LFC and the only reason he is so, is because of our Champions League showings. Other than the obvious that Big Sam needs to worry about his own job and his own side, the Magpies manager appears to be showing signs of amnesia. He says, and I quote, 'Being a foreigner, Rafa doesn't understand it's supposed to be Premier League first and Champions League second.' Really, Sammy? I didn't know that Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho were suddenly British.

- Football365.com has named Alvaro Arbeloa and Jermaine Pennant to their EPL side so far this season. Though I agree with the former, the latter is a bit odd of a selection. Pennant's performance so far this season is neither as impressive nor consistent as his November-on form from last season. One glaring omission from the team is Pepe Reina who has yet to allow a goal from open play. The Spaniard does get a nod, but Brad Friedel? Come on.

- Porto captain Lucho Gonzalez and boss Jesualdo Ferreira have made their feelings about today's match heard. The 26-year-old Argentine has made it clear that his side is ready and capable to beat Liverpool, while their manager thinks that Ricardo Quaresma will be instrumental in beating the English side that has not impressed him. Apparently Ferreira sent his assistants Rui Barros and Joao Pinto to scout LFC at the Pompey match. Hopefully, that's how they think we normally play.

- Supposedly Crouch is set to move to Portsmouth in the January transfer window. No... please... don't... if only it were true.

- Finally, Rafa gives Pepe some love. Cheers, I'll be back for the Porto line-up.

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.