It's so hard to be negative

Since when did it become a sign of intelligence to be negative? Cynicism is one thing, pessimism is another, but negativity is not the act of critical thinking. In fact, it's more a sign of emotional instability or stunted maturity and lack of understanding. What good does it do to go on a inimical tangent? Absolutely none, that's what.

That's why I can't believe some of the reaction I'm reading from yesterday's match. Most of it is antagonistic and delusional more than anything else. I understand undying passion for your club, as this blog shows I have just as much as anyone for LFC, but it isn't a benefit to anyone to unleash an epic rant berating the players and Rafa.

Don't you think they're aware when they mess up? Don't you think they realize what they need to improve on? Do you not think Rafa sees and realizes such things? If you don't, than your just plain mental. Being negative about it doesn't improve the situation whatsoever. In fact, most of the time it makes it worse by putting unneeded pressure on the player which may force them to hurry improvement and mainly ends up with them making even more mistakes.

It's one thing to be a mindless cheerleader, but it's no less asinine to be a negative nitwit. It takes about equal knowledge to do either. Take the performance of Momo yesterday. I counted roughly 8 'mistakes' he made throughout the match, but he not only 'touched' the ball over 60 times, he also 'won' it a number of times and made a few Chelsea-momentum crushing tackles along the way. Emphasizing the ever-apparent negative aspects of his performance is not only unfair, it's just plain ignorant.

In fact, if we analyze the verity of yesterday's contest, 2-0 is a tremendous result for our boys. It was played at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea fielded an older, more experienced, and an exponentially more expensive and arguably more talented side. Our boys have an abundance of aptitude, but a lot of it is undeveloped at the moment. If you throw-in the reality that the Lampard goal was basically luck and the Shevchenko goal was an unfortunate error by Itandje, who had a brilliant match otherwise, the result was even more commendable.

I don't care about losing to Chelsea in what is essentially a meaningless cup tie. It would have been phenomenal if the side we put out there had won, but for the most part, the Carling Cup is not a priority nor a major trophy compared even to the FA Cup. As for the rivalry angle, well, let's just say Chelsea considers us a much more important opponent than we do them. It pales in comparison to Everton and Man United.

While I'm at it, all this rubbish about Rafa not being good enough to lead us to the Premiership is unsubstantiated nonsense. I've said it once and I'll say it again, give the man Abramovich money and we'll win either the league or the Champions League every season and probably a few doubles and trebles as well. We still don't have the depth in horses to be competitive in all contests, but we're getting there. Players such as Lucas and Arbeloa show that Rafa knows talent on the thrift and the performances of Torres and Babel so far this season is just a taste of what a deep-pockets Benitez can bring about.

Mourinho could not do a better job. Give me a point of view with substantial facts to prove otherwise. In Portugal, he was at Porto, one of only three major clubs there. He had all the money in the world (for a Portuguese club, that is) and the pick of the litter. Sure, he was able to realize such talent, as does Rafa, and that allowed him to breeze through the domestic league with little trouble, therefore enabling him to concentrate on Champions League. By the way, have you ever looked-up Porto's draw in the knockout stages of the CL that season? In the first round they faced Man U and needed a 90th minute goal in the second leg to advance. The next two rounds they faced Lyon and Deportivo de La Coruña. No disrespect intended for either side, but Porto beating them is not shocking. At Chelsea, Mourinho had Abramovich money. Enough said.

I fully admit I've lost my head in the past and I'm not particularly proud of it. I got a bit flustered when the threat of Rafa leaving came about and have gone on a tangent after some matches, but those days are over. I essentially was just being a muppet. A sign of character is how one weathers a storm and our current 'crisis' is far from a hurricane. What needs to remembered is that our players are human beings, subject to error with an ego and an id, just like everyone else. They deserve respect, just like everyone else. Weighing the facts and circumstances is not hard to do, but apparently it's a lot easier to just be negative.

Today's Banter: Sissoko steamed over omission, John Barnes helps out Sunderland, Besian to return early, & more

It appears Momo Sissoko's days at Liverpool are numbered. The 23-year-old lashed out in frustration after being omitted from the traveling squad to face Marseilles today. Being that his family is from France and would have a rare chance to see him play, the defensive midfielder felt he should have at least been included. Sorry, Momo, but you're wrong. Your form has been relatively poor this whole season and the only person you have to blame is yourself. Lucas may not get to play much either, but his attitude doesn't get in the way of his performance. At this point, I can't see Momo being kept around through the January window. It's disappointing, but he's not mentally capable of being in a rotated squad and it has obviously affected his play.

The legend who is John Barnes will be lending a helping hand of sorts to Roy Keane and the Black Cats by doing some pseudo-scouting for the Premiership club. The former winger will be running clinics in the Carribean and if upon seeing a player with the potential to benefit Sunderland, he'll be sent across the pond to trial under Keane. Barnes was born and raised in Jamaica before moving to England as a 13-year-old.

Besian Idrizaj, who was doing all of nothing on-loan to Crystal Palace, has been given permission by Neil Warnock to cut his year-loan early and return to Liverpool. Thank God, but like Craig Lindfield, the 20-year-old Austrian is going to find slim pickings when it comes to playing time, especially with the very recent emergence of Krisztián Németh. I guess we'll see if he'll be sent out on loan again, which would probably be best for everyone.

Finally, Rafa has stated that today's match will have no ramifications either way on whether or not he'll receive promised transfer funds in January. If they don't win today, I honestly don't know if Benitez will be around anyhow. Players and fans talk big, but I just can't see either wanting to leave LFC, except for Mascherano and maybe Xabi, but no one else will be going anywhere.

Today's Banter: One part wind-up, two parts wind-down, & 44/100% certifiable

All appears quiet on the Liverpool front, which is fine by me, but apparently not so for the wind-up bloggers. There's this one site in particular that holds contests for it's 'writers' to see who can attract the most hits. Basically it's who can write the most outrageous title followed-up by the most inane, speculative garbage that any half-witted teenager could author. One of these 'articles' is about how Steven Gerrard doesn't deserve a starting spot on a fully fit Liverpool squad. Yes, they are that feeble-minded.

Another 'article' attempts to blame Liverpool and more specifically Rafa for the supposed stunted development of Momo Sissoko. He didn't have to sign that contract extension this past summer and furthermore he's had two major injuries in his first two seasons with us, but let's leave facts to the thinkers. For this bullocks to stop, please make an effort to ignore these imbeciles. Don't click on their articles and definitely don't comment. It'd be nice if they dropped dead, but that would be asking way too much, so ignoring them is the best way to go about. They don't write such rubbish for the good of anyone but themselves. Moving on...

According to this article, Mascherano is close to signing a five year, £17m contract. Well, this is news to me. I know his transfer fee is around that amount, which we obviously have to pay first, but I didn't know we've already negotiated a contract with him. Of course, this is the first article I've read that's mention such notions, so someone might just have their facts wrong, intentional or not. Another part of that article I've yet to hear is Mascherano 'insisted he would leave Anfield unless a deal was finalised within a month.' Really? Hmmm....

Tony Barrett of the Liverpool Echo has written a short but sweet article praising Alvaro Arbeloa. He basically just reiterates a lot of what's already been said of the Spaniard by myself and other bloggers. One thing I slightly disagree with is how he thinks that Arbeloa is better on the left. To me, he appears more comfortable on the right and gets more involved on attack when he's over there. I chalk it up to him having more confidence on that side to get back on defense. Barrett even goes as far as to compare Arbeloa with Stevie Nicol.

Speaking of which, Nicol's New England Revolution face the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final today in a repeat of last year's match-up. The Revolution have already won the US Cup this season and will be looking to complete the double in Washington, DC, where the match is being held. As painful as it is for me to watch MLS, I'll probably take in this one. Nothing really better to do, actually.

Finally, I can't end my daily without mentioning an article or post by a questionably mental Man U or Chelsea fan. That would be unforgivable. Today we have a Chelsea supporter from the ever reputable site Vital Chelsea. If you've ever visited that veritable armpit of the world wide web, you'd know that it's one of the more dim-witted sites around. The most humorous aspect is that it's supposed to be a place for Chelsea fans to write about their own side, but most of their articles are usually about Liverpool. I guess when you don't have much of a history nor brain cells, you get short on subjects. Anyhow, this clown starts off writing about how a reporter from the Echo chastises Michael Essien for not apologizing for a vicious yellow card-earning tackle on Leon Osman last Sunday and then ends up talking about Didi Hamann and Dirk Kuyt. What?! Oh, because the paper is in Liverpool. Brilliant. Yeah, Evertonians and Liverpool fans are one in the same, just like Chelsea supporters are the same as Fulham fans. I mean, Chelsea is in Fulham after all. Cheers.

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.

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.

A stat for all the Momo critics

I have to admit that I was kind of shocked when I read so many reviews of the Blackburn match that slagged off on Momo's performance. What match were they watching? I'm beginning to think that it matters little what the 22-year-old Malian International does, his haters are solid in their mindset that he's no good.

The main argument against Sissoko is that he's a good defensive midfielder, but it doesn't matter because once he makes a tackle and wins possession, he throws it away, basically nullifying his effort. I'm the first to admit when Momo has a bad match, but Saturday wasn't one of them.

The proof is in the pudding and Sissoko had a passing completion percentage of 91%. He complete 41 of 45 attempts and was second on the team with 5 tackles as well. The only players who had better passing percentages were Jamie Carragher (45 for 45), Steve Finnan (37 for 37), and Peter Crouch (3 for 3), all of which had a 100% completion rate, and Yossi Benayoun (24 of 25), who had a 96%.

Momo is young and still has lots to learn. He even admitted recently that has to improve form. Basically all I'm saying is, if it makes you feel better by putting down an impressionable young man, even when he performs at a satisfactory level, then you're the kind of 'fan' we don't need. Keep your irrational views to yourself, because they aren't supported by what occurs on the pitch whatsoever.

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.

Liverpool 0, Blackburn 0: halftime thoughts

A kid in the stands trying to solve a rubik's cube is probably a fair representation of how this match has gone. It has been a rather odd and drab affair, though I'm pretty confident in saying it's more the fault of Blackburn's then our own. The Rovers appear to be sitting back as we slowly push the ball forward, at least we're not attempting the long pass every other time we gain possession.

Blackburn seem to be waiting for us to either make a mistake or for fatigue to set in. In their defense, it seems to be working. David Bentley broke free and nearly cost us a goal when we committed our defense too far forward, something for once we have actually been cautious about. Luckily the young England International's shot hit the outer part of the sidebar.

Our meticulous, rather poor man's attempt of total football is somewhat of an encouraging sign. To me it shows that we are capable of having patience on the ball and changing our approach to a match when required. Sometimes though we are making too many passes and we appear to be once again bashful of taking shots from outside of the box. Do we need to start playing Nabil El Zhar more often? If that's what it takes. It's especially disheartening when Stevie-G sends it to the flank instead of taking advantage of the opportunity of cracking the net.

Another alarming aspect of our performance appears to be a lack of communication on defense and an absence of synchronization on attack. We just aren't in sync at our opponent's end and on a couple of occasions Blackburn had unmarked players in the box even though we outnumbered them. The latter is inexcusable while the former is just going to take time for a chemistry to develop.

It's still nil-nil and though Blackburn has been luckless, rattling the bar twice, we have had our opportunities as well. I suspect both sides will get at least one goal, with the first to do so making a mistake and changing their approach to the match. Hopefully, we'll score first and continue to attack, but that's just wishful thinking.

(Quick note: Individually Mascherano has been our best player with Sissoko giving a solid effort as well. Both Benayoun and Babel need to learn to pass the ball before two defenders zero in on them. Kuyt seems hopeless at times, which is harrowing, though Hyypia appears to have found his legs. Would love to see what Kewell can do in the second, maybe subbing him for Gerrard with about twenty minutes left would be optimal. Our Captain needs his rest and King Harry needs to be properly re-introduced to the Premiership.)

Today's Banter: Latest on Riise wageslip leak, Sick Sissoko may miss Blackburn, Xabi back in a fortnight?, & more

Though the Merseyside police have stated that they will look no further into how John Arne Riise's wageslip was leaked to the internet due to lack of complaint, Liverpool FC have decided to take matters into their own hands by launching an independent investigation. The first anecdote to emerge involving the controversy is that a group of Everton fans co-conspired to rummage Riise's vehicle after spotting the 27-year-old Norwegian in a pub. While other Toffees fans kept watch on Riise, another co-conspirator allegedly searched out his SUV where the wageslip was apparently within plain view of a camera phone. The problem with that theory is: a)there was a hand clearly in one of the leaked pics, b)how did they know which vehicle was Riise's?, and c)the plot sounds a little too fantastic and definitely too intelligent for a group of Everton fans to pull off.

Rafa has revealed that the only reason Steven Gerrard played yesterday was because Momo Sissoko is still sick. Had the 22-year-old Malian been available, Stevie-G would have more than likely had the night off. Momo has been diagnosed with a virus of some sort and had trouble keeping food down earlier this week. His condition will be evaluated ahead of the Blackburn match on Saturday, but prospects of him playing are not looking good. Thankfully Mascherano's injury wasn't as severe as first thought as the Argentine played in the closing minutes of yesterday's match.

Speaking of injuries, our current crisis appears to be becoming less grim. Turns out Xabi Alonso's foot injury is not as disastrous as originally anticipated. The 25-year-old Spanish International was expected to be out up to two months, now it's looking more like two weeks. That means with a little luck, we could have a full and fit squad in a fortnight with Agger and Torres expected back by then as well.

Jack Hobbs and Nabil El Zhar have garnered loads of praise for their efforts versus Cardiff City yesterday. The 19-year-old Hobbs received acclaim from teammate and fellow centre back, Sami Hyypia. The legendary Finn went as far to say that he believed Hobbs was better than him at that age. Wow. Meanwhile, El Zhar, who scored an absolute cracker of a goal to give us an early lead has been getting his fair share of attention. In a post-game interview, he stated that he would play defender for us if it meant more playing time. Now that's the kind of attitude we need.

Finally, Hereford United has received permission from Reds management to FA cup-tie Robbie Threlfall. It looks as if the young left-back will be getting some pitch time for the Whites. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Sissoko wants out?, Chasing another wonderkid, & Everton match backlash

- Reading this, I wonder if it was purposely taken out of context. Was Sissoko asked if he regrets not to flat out leave Liverpool to go to Juventus or was he asked if he thought he would have more playing opportunities at Juventus? I sort of doubt Sissoko wants to leave. I'm sure he has told friends at times that he would like to, but who doesn't at times bitch about their life and wishing for change to their closest acquaintances? Sissoko's form of late has been less than impressive and though I'm far from questioning his desire and motivation to play well, if he continues at this rate, he won't be wearing a Liverpool kit come next season. Especially if we can keep Mascherano on board and Lucas continues to impress.

- We're apparently keeping a close eye on 18-year-old Danish centre back Simon Kjær. The U19 Denmark International is highly-rated and has received interest from many top clubs including Real Madrid. His agent compares his talen to Messi, Rooney, Dos Santos, Jesus, and Gary Kasparov. If he's as good as advertised hopefully having Agger will persuade him to give our club a chance.

- Now, before I get to the comical reactions of Phil Neville and David Moyes, let me first comment on Rafa subbing Gerrard in the 70th minute. Rafa has said he did so to give the club 'less passion' believing that a more rational approach would provide a better chance of victory. This was justified of course by Lucas' winning the penalty on a Neville handball. Benitez also added that he has smoothed things over with our captain. Speaking of Neville's handball, the Everton captain has no right to criticize actions of neither Liverpool players nor the referee. He deliberately cheated and received his just due. Saying it was the intelligent thing is ridiculous, now he faces a three-match ban for his action. Ultimately, it didn't work and the Toffees may be without their captain for three more matches, brilliant. Neville was particularly upset that Kuyt wasn't sent off for his two-footed tackle attempt that only earned the Dutch international a yellow card. Rubbish, Kuyt made minimal if any contact with the Everton player. Had he done a Roy Keane, I would agree, but he mostly just tackled air. Moyes was particularly baffled at not receiving a penalty for Carra's apparent box take-down of Lescott late in the game. After watching the replay a few times, I have to agree that Carragher took Lescott down by grabbing his jersey from behind and a penalty should have been awarded, but after the Chelsea match, we deserve a little 'luck' ourselves. Unfortunately it was at the hands of the Toffees, who are now in a bit of trouble.

Liverpool vs Reading: the line-up

Rafa looks to be taking this match quite seriously.

Here's the line-up:
Itandje
Aurelio
Carragher
Arbeloa
Finnan
Leto
Sissoko
Lucas
Benayoun
Crouch
Torres

Subs:
Martin
Gerrard
Riise
Hobbs
Putterill

I'm pretty pumped to see Leto there as well as Lucas and Torres on the same pitch with him. Benayoun and Finnan should have plenty of room to operate on the right with Sebastian stretching the side as well as Crouch and Torres worrying the central defenders. Arbeloa to get a test run at centre is interesting, let's see how he does. His pace might come in handy against Lita.

Suprised not to see Pepe at least on the bench, but David Martin should be able to fill in if something were to happen to Itandje who gets his first start for the side. I hope Putterill gets on as well, I'd like to see what he can do against Premiership quality players. Here's to a fun match. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Riise injured, Momo to miss Porto match as well, Redknapp LFC's new adviser, & more

- John Arne Riise picked up a groin injury in Norway's draw with Greece last Wednesday and will not be fit for tomorrow's match at Porto. Fabio Aurelio will be available though, just in the nick of time.

- No reason was given, but Momo won't be making the trip either and surprise, surprise, Harry Kewell is still nursing a groin pull.

- Rafa has revealed that his former number two, Pako Ayesteran, is contractually prevented from joining another English club. A number of Spanish clubs are rumored to be interested in retaining his services when he returns from 'gardening leave.'

- Harry Redknapp couldn't help taking a swipe at Rafa for not playing his best eleven against his Portsmouth side. Of course, that is basically saying his own players are second rate and couldn't beat a Liverpool B side, but that would actually take a brain to realize.

- Finally, with goals from Ryan Crowther and David Amoo, the U18s cruised to their second straight victory when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday, 2-0, on Saturday. Unfortunately, Gary MacKay Steven had to come off because of a hamstring injury.

Liverpool 0, Portsmouth 0

Well, if I learned anything from this match, it's that we're not going to win tough away matches like this without Torres playing the full ninety. When he came on in the 63rd minute, we immediately became a greater threat to score. Gerrard came on four minutes later, was his usual class self and probably was the reason Torres had so much freedom up front, but for the most part Stevie-G wasn't too involved in the match the roughly thirty minutes he was on.

The thing I disagree with was taking out Pennant instead of Benayoun or Xabi for Gerrard. Pennant was having a better game than those two, and was beginning to get more involved in the attack in the second half, creating an early chance for Voronin that bounced off the top of the bar. Neither Benayoun nor Xabi did much the rest of the match to justify them staying on and in fact, Yossi wasted a golden opportunity in the box.

The officiating was wholly inconsistent, but that's expected on the road. Two things really bothered me other than the obvious horrible penalty call. A bogus foul was awarded to Portsmouth after Arbeloa stole the ball on the left side of the field and we looked to have the advantage on the attack and for the life of me, I don't know how either Davis or Johnson didn't collect more cards. Their play was appalling. Every time they were outclassed, they just stuck a dangerous foot out.

Overall, I don't know, we just didn't have it until Torres and Gerrard came in. Like I said before, I think taking out Pennant was a bad decision. He and our two world class players probably would have been enough to get a goal. In the end, this is not a devastating result, but a win would have been obviously been better. To look at it half full, a draw at Fratton Park is certainly better than a loss.

Liverpool 0, Porstmouth 0: the save

Here's Pepe's save on Kanu's penalty, that was wrongfully awarded, by the way. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Portsmouth 0: halftime thoughts

Well despite the officials trying to gift Portsmouth the three points and the home side giving a clinic on how to cheat English football style, our boys find themselves drawn 0-0 at the break. Of course if it wasn't for the greatest penalty keep in the world, they'd probably find themselves down 0-1.

The awarded penalty in the 32nd minute was absolutely atrocious. On a Portsmouth cross into the box, Arbeloa went up beside an awaiting Pompey player and knocked the ball away with a flying karate kick. As he came back down, he momentarily, and I mean it maybe lasted one-and-a-half seconds at the most, grabbed at the Portsmouth player's shirt to regain his balance. If that was the line judge's reasoning for the call, bullocks, the ball was far away at that point. There was no contact prior to the ball's arrival either. It was completely unjustified.

Thankfully Pepe stepped up and saved Kanu's attempt by diving to his right. His uncanny ability to know where the ball was headed saved the line judge the embarrassment of having to apologize after the match. By the way, Xabi got a card in the mass protest that ensued after the call and before the penalty was tried.

As a team, we're letting Pompey's overt and near criminal physicality get to us. Early on we had a free flowing transition and looked a real threat to score, but that momentum has dissipated. We need to focus more on organizing our attack and in that regard getting the ball to Pennant more. In the beginning he was our main carrier and then for about a half an hour he disappeared. Toward the end of the half, we got the ball to him a couple of more times and things started to happen.

Our best player has probably been Momo. He's made some fantastic defensive stops, but he tends to revert back to his horrid passing decisions from time to time which seems to almost negate his stops. Pepe has been great on not allowing the ball to get past him, but once he gets possession of the ball, his decisions on who to give it to and how have been at times baffling. I hope it was just the jitters from not playing for a couple of weeks. The only other stand-out has been Carra, who seems to be the only one at times to have a head on his shoulders.

No one has been particularly bad, though I wouldn't call this Voronin's best match by any means. The Ukrainian seems to be letting the Pompey scum get to him. Neither Xabi nor Benayoun seem to be much into the match either and for once I don't have much to complain about Crouch's performance since he's hardly touched the ball.

It looks as if we're going to have to bring either Gerrard, Torres, or even Babel for an offensive spark. The Crouch-Voronin pairing isn't working today so maybe replacing one of them would be a good idea. We definitely need to get Pennant the ball more and I think the way to do that is by getting Benayoun more involved. Anyhow, the second half is about to begin. Come on boys!

Liverpool vs Portsmouth: the line-up

Reina
Finnan
Agger
Carragher
Arbeloa
Pennant
Sissoko
Alonso
Benayoun
Crouch
Voronin

Subs:
Itandje
Hyypia
Torres
Gerrard
Babel

No big surprises except Finnan. Looks awfully familiar though. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Portsmouth: What will Rafa do?

It's baaaccckkkkk!!!! My favorite game trying to predict what Rafa 'the Mad Tinkerer' Benitez will do tomorrow against Pompey. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. Anyhow, let's go...

With about half the squad on international duty this past week, Rafa's choices have been somewhat limited to players who didn't play or play much on Wednesday because they aren't part of their country's national team (For now, that includes Pennant & Arbeloa), were injured or retired from international play (Finnan, the former, Carra, the latter), their country didn't have a fixture (Yossi Benayoun), they got a red card and were suspended for the match (Xabi, I'm talkin' 'bout you), or were an early exit or late sub from their teams' matches (Agger, the former, Peter Crouch and Andriy Voronin, the latter). That in turn makes my job of predicting who Rafa will field pretty simple, well, probably not.

Reina in goal as he didn't get to play for Spain because Aragones gets hand jobs from Iker Casillas. Honestly, I don't care, I'd rather have a fresh Pepe than see Spain advance and have the chance at having Torres injured at the Euro next year. My backline has Arbeloa on the right as it looks like Finnan will be a scratch thanks to a knee injury suffered in the Toulouse match at Anfield two-and-a-half weeks ago. Get well soon, Finney, we're gonna need ya. In the middle I have Carra back in action and Danny Agger, unless of course he did break his hand, but I figure we'd see something form the official site by now if he did. Finally, on the left will probably be Riise. Though Aurelio did play 45 minutes earlier this week in a Reserves match, I don't expect him to take the pitch in a first team match for at least another week. No need to rush him.

In midfield on the right will be Jermaine Pennant. Time to step it up lad, if we've ever needed a solid performance from JP, it's here. It the middle, despite Rafa supposedly amusing himself with thoughts of starting Gerrard, will be a well-rested Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko. Don't be surprised to see Gerrard on the bench though and he'll probably get into the game at some point in the second, if we're down, probably with at least twenty minutes left. On the left I expect to see Yossi since Babel played the full 90 for Holland on Wednesday, but I certainly hope the new John Barnes will be on the bench. Calling Harry Kewell, Harry Kewell, where are ya?

Up front is the toughest dilemma, using my theory of starting the least tired players, probably means Crouch and Voronin, which I'm fine with. As long as we have Torres or Kuyt available on the bench, just in case. Speaking of the bench, I think we'll see Gerrard, Hyypia, Leto, Torres, and Itandje there. Leto gives us coverage on the wings, though he probably won't see the pitch unless Pennant or Benayoun get hurt. So here's my final guess:

GK - Reina
RB - Arbeloa
CB - Agger
CB - Carra
LB - Riise
RM - Pennant
CM - Momo Sissoko
CM - Xabi Alonso
LM - Benayoun
F - Voronin
F - Crouch

Bench:
Gerrard
Hyypia
Leto or Babel
Torres
Itandje

Cheers and see ya tomorrow.

If Liverpool was an NFL side: The Offense

As I sat around with some friends this past Sunday watching some NFL and patiently awaiting the US-Brazil friendly in Chicago, I got to thinking how Javier Mascherano would make a bad ass American football player, particularly at running back. He seems to have the perfect low-gravity, wide, muscular build with powerful tree trunk like legs to propel him forward while carrying a couple of players with him. I could definitely see him slamming himself kamikaze-style through a wall of over-sized ogres and coming out the other side a la Emmitt Smith to scramble for a few more yards. It's too bad he was born in Argentina.

Then I got to thinking, if Liverpool FC was an American football club, at what positions would our players be best suited. On offense, the most obvious is Steven Gerrard at quarterback. He just has that high-shouldered approach that would allow him to keep a good eye on the entire field and allow him a quick over-the-shoulder release. Not to mention his leadership abilities and his uncanny knack to pull off something special when needed most. He certainly has all the physical attributes, he's quick and fast, though it probably wouldn't hurt for him to put on a few pounds, and at six-foot-one he's tall enough. The only thing he'd need to learn how to do is throw a football, but that probably wouldn't be too hard for someone of his athletic ability.

The biggest problem would be linemen. Of the players who could probably make it at that position due to their strength and toughness, certainly Sami Hyypia and Alvaro Arbeloa could, but both would still need to put on at least 100 pounds to even begin not to get pushed around by the opposition. John Arne Riise could probably make it as a tight end, but I'd rather see him and Jermaine Pennant sharing the backfield with Mascherano. I can just imagine Riise getting the ball, gathering up a head of steam and then barreling through some linebackers who later would have no idea what hit them. As for 'Crazy Legs' Pennant, I can definitely see him being like Warrick Dunn, scampering all over the field, defying tackles with juke moves and a relentless refusal to be taken down. He'd probably be one of our return specialists as well.

As for the receiving core, we'd be loaded with Momo Sissoko, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun and of course, Peter Crouch, though I think Crouchy would probably get broken in half on the first decent hit. Pepe Reina would be our starting tight end after he put on about eighty pounds. Yossi and Crouch would be the possession receivers, while Momo and Babel would be flankers. I could also see Dirk Kuyt and Andriy Voronin as split ends or playing some sort of possession receiver roles due to their lack of speed. That leaves Torres, who'd probably be in the backfield, though I'm not sure how he'd fit in with the other three back there.

As for the rest of the team, Harry Kewell seems to have the mentality of the back-up quarterback. Though he may lack in size, he's definitely got the athletic ability and tends to come up with special plays from time to time. Of course he'd have to stay healthy first. For some reason, I see Jamie Carragher as a kicker. I don't mean that as an insult by any means, as I can see him kicking the ball off then going full speed at the opposition trying to take out as many blockers as possible on his way to dragging down the returner. Then we have Danny Agger, with whom I have no idea what to do with. With his height, he could probably play as receiver or tight end, but I just sort of see him sitting on the bench. I don't why, maybe he's just too much of a footballer to me.

If I ever get this bored again, I'll do the defense or somebody can shoot me. Whatever you deem appropriate. Cheers.

Liverpool Reserves 2, Crewe Alexandra Reserves 1: the video highlights

Featuring Xabi Alonso, Jermaine Pennant, Yossi Benayoun, Momo Sissoko, Lucas Leiva, and Sebastian Leto among others. Cheers.

Momo Sissoko classic white