Today's Banter: Nasri?, Benayoun content being super sub, Eccleston comes through, & more

- According to this article, we're going to make a £10m bid for French superstar Samir Nasri. Bullocks. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice to have him, but first off, he primarily plays central midfield and we're kind of loaded in that department. He is versatile enough to play the wings as well, but unless he's going to be content sharing time there, he won't approve the transfer. Finally, if he's as good as advertised, I kind of doubt £10m will be enough to snag him. French players are usually bargains (unless Houllier is the buyer), but that sounds a bit low. Unfortunately, we won't get a look at the 20-year-old when Marseilles come to Anfield on Wednesday as he is convalescing from flu-like symptoms.

- Yossi Benayoun, the only player who felt like scoring for us on Saturday, has proclaimed that he's content being a super sub. It's good to see Yossi have a change of heart from his early season tantrum about not getting enough playing time. He really shows class in that article and its a real testament to our side to have such quality in depth. He should be our starter on the right come Wednesday, that is if Harry Kewell isn't miraculously back from injury and Babel is available.

- Nathan Eccleston lead the way with a brace as the Academy beat Stoke City 3-2. Joe Kennedy scored the other goal. The kids now sit at 3-2 for the season though still have -1 goal difference. Their next match is Saturday when they travel to Blackburn.

- After bagging the next Lionel Messi in 16-year-old Gerardo Bruna, we're apparently tracking Irish Starlet James McCarthy and may make an offer for him at the end of the season. The 16-year-old Hamilton Accies midfielder is the youngest ever scorer for his club and has attracted attention from seemingly every club on the planet.

- Finally, Djibril Cisse can't wait for Wednesday when he makes his return to Anfield in a Marseilles shirt. The 26-year-old French striker said he was on the phone with Stevie-G the moment he found out about the draw. He also said some nice (and true) things about our captain like calling him the best midfielder in the world. Bolo Zenden also plays for Marseilles. Hopefully he'll give the average Anfield performance and be more of a burden to his own side. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Nasri to miss CL clash, Carra closing in on 500, A battle of who could care less?, & more

- Marseille's Samir Nasri is set to miss his side's Champions League match next week with us due to meningitis-type flu. The 20-year-old attacking midfielder was hospitalized last weekend and has yet to be released. He is expected to require at least a two week convalescence period.

- Jamie Carragher is set to make his 476th appearance for Liverpool tonight against Reading. Impressive as that number is, the record is held by Ian Callaghan at 848. I sincerely doubt the 29-year-old Liverpool icon will be able to challenge that number.

- It seems like neither Coppell nor Rafa really care that much about winning their Carling Cup clash later today. Both seem to be using double-speak type antics to hide it, but it seems quite apparent with who they are looking at selection-wise. Coppell is looking to give Leroy Lita a test-run from injury as well as playing Bobby Convey as a means of practice time. The Reading boss is adamant though that he has no room for Reserves on his roster. Meanwhile Rafa is looking at giving time to some of his actual Reserves in Sebastian Leto and Lucas, though they would most definitely be regulars on a lot of Premiership sides.

- Finally, we have everyone and their mother giving their opinion on Rafa's rotating ways. Phil McNulty at BBC Sport wonders why Rafa went on such a tantrum about not having enough quality on his side after the Champions League final when he doesn't bother to play that quality as much as possible. Lawro thinks that Rafa should play his best players as much as possible now and rest them when needs be later. Finally, Ian Rush defends Rafa by saying that the Spaniard probably thought Kuyt and Voronin would have been able to beat Birmingham and that the movement of those two would open up the congested Blues side of the field.