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.

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.