Today's Banter: Bellamy named Welsh FOY, BBC half-ass apologizes, Injury update, & more

Congratulations to Craig Bellamy who was named Footballer of the Year for Wales, beating out the likes of Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale. Anytime a Liverpool player, former or not, beats out a Man U player for something, the sun seems to shine a little brighter. It was the first time the 28-year-old striker has won the award. The always humble Bells was surprised to win, but thought he was more deserving in previous years. I sometimes wonder if he was still with our side, what kind of contribution he'd make. Outside of leading the club in offside calls that is.

The BBC just doesn't get it. In their apology for an Eastenders character making remarks about Heysel, Hillsborough, and hooliganism, they claim it was 'misinterpreted.' Any chance of such a notion should be avoided when referencing such a sensitive subject. The causes and the consequences of those events are much too complicated for a television show to handle in just a matter of a couple of lines. Stick to the lame-ass imaginary story lines and stop trying to mix in reality where real people were/are killed and other real people were/are traumatized because of it. Moving on...

There's a good chance that Daniel Agger will be back for the Newcastle match at St. James Park. The 22-year-old Dane is expected to return to full training next week. Since Hyypiä will probably play for Finland next Tuesday, the young centre back's return couldn't come at a better time. Yossi Benayoun could be back in action for the Tyneside tie as well, but Xabi Alonso will be at least an additional week if not more.

In transfer market news, Rafa is ready to sell Scott Carson to Villa if the club are prepared to meet his valuation. It is thought that Benitez wants at least £9m for him. I wonder if we waited until the summer, we could get a bit more for him, especially since Arsene Wenger is an admirer and is in need of a better goalie. Of course, if we could use that money to sign Masche on a permanent, there's no question we should sell.

Sticking to transfers, we are apparently interested in Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina. The 29-year-old Frenchman has apparently fallen out of favor with Claudio Reyna at the Old Lady and could be available in the January transfer window. He can play both right-back and central defense. I say if the price is right, why not? The more the merrier, as long as he doesn't mind not playing every match.

In the laughable news category, apparently Hamburg SV stole the next greatest striker in the world, Macauley Chrisantus, out from under us and every other big club in the world. Let's see here, a youth player has a great U17 World Cup, gets hyped up and apparently everyone wants him. Well, that always works out... *cough* Anthony LeTallec *cough* *cough* Florent Sinama-Pongolle *cough*... We've learned our lesson there.

Finally, in the pot -> kettle -> black category, Real Madrid youth coach Michel took a cheap shot at us for 'stealing' 16-year-old Argentine Gerardo Bruna after the young forward had spent the three previous seasons with the Spanish club. Michel goes on to say, “How many young players taken by Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have played for their first team? They sign the boy to a contract, make all sorts of promises and then put him in their reserves and never give him a competitive game.” Ha ha ha... is he kidding? Two words: Alvaro Arbeloa. 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.

Today's Banter: Paul Anderson saves Swansea again, New stadium gets green light, Benayoun vows to rescue England, & more

There's just too many interesting responses to yesterday's match to include in my daily, so I'll do separate post in a bit.

Once again Paul Anderson was the hero yesterday as his goal with 12 minutes to go in regulation saved the Swans from certain defeat at Millwall. The 19-year-old on-loan winger scored the equalizer to make it 2-2 at the New Den after the Lions had come back from a goal deficit to take the lead. It was Anderson's eighth goal of the season. Interestingly enough, former LFC player, American Zak Whitbread, scored in this match as well. Swansea currently sits fourth on the League One table with a game-in-hand over all three teams ahead of them.

(Edit: I'm now reading reports that it was Darryl Duffy and not Paul Anderson who scored the equalizer. If anyone can confirm this, please do. Anderson did get the assist on the first goal though. At least that's what I read.)

Lost in all the excitement of yesterday's thrashing of Beşiktaş, the Liverpool city planning committee approved the plans for the new stadium. The 60,000 seat, £400m project is set to begin construction next Spring at the Stanley Park site. It is expected to be ready for the start of the 2011 season. For the club to take advantage of expansion options and increase the capacity to 76,000, additional approval would have to be given by the committee. The committee heard from concerned local residents before making their decision and proposed an increase in fines for traffic violations to help control the potential influx of chaos and gridlock.

Yesterday's hat-trick hero and nearly everyone's pick for Man of the Match, Israeli Yossi Benayoun, has vowed to do all he can to help England advance to the 2008 European Championship, when he leads Israel against Russia in an upcoming qualifying match. If Russia wins against the Israelis in Tel-Aviv, they only have lowly Andorra to run-over in their quest to advance and prevent England from doing so. Benayoun, the captain of Israel, wants nothing more than to see teammates Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch make it to final next summer. I'm going to pretty much hold my tongue on this one, but I will say this, there's really no point in the Three Lions advancing because they have absolutely no chance of winning it.

Burnley boss Steve Cotterill has responded to Rafa claiming that Clarets über-prospect, John Cofie, can be bought for considerably less than the £1m valuation, with a laugh. Cotterill apparently told a crap-shite poor excuse of a piece of paper that: "If they think they can nick him for £250,000 they’ve no chance." Not sure what Rafa was trying to do with his low-balling statement, maybe send out a feeler? But he obviously hit a nerve with the lad's manager.

Finally, it looks like Fulham, our opponent Saturday, will get a boost up front, as on-loan from Crystal Palace, Finnish International Shefki Kuqi looks to make his first full debut for the Cottagers at Anfield. He will more than likely be paired with Clint Dempsey who scored his first career Premiership goal, quite a controversial one I might add, against us last May. I know it was his first goal and I realize it kept Fulham in the Premiership, but they were playing a makeshift B-side that even the saddest of top-flight clubs should have beaten by more than a goal and they celebrated like they just won the Champions League. I hope we crush them. Cheers.

Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: Player Grades

Pepe Reina 6
Didn't have to do much, but got the job done and made a great save.

Fabio Aurelio 5.5
The Brazilian made little contribution, but it wasn't required. He came off early in the second for Babel, which I'm hoping was because of fatigue more than anything else.

Jamie Carragher 6
Wasn't called-on to do much, but did what he had to.

Sami Hyypia 6
Stayed back, didn't get beat. One of his better performances so far this year, but I bet you he can't wait for Agger to get back so he can go on holiday.

Alvaro Arbeloa 7.5
Was a real instigator on the attack early and can probably be credited for getting us going. Once Beşiktaş had to worry about him as well, even more space opened up. By the way, he completed 100% of his passes. Wow.

John Arne Riise 5.5
Made up for his passing woes by causing havoc.

Steven Gerrard 5.5
Must have been nice for him not to have to play his arse off and our side win like this.

Javier Mascherano 7
Another solid performance from our other World Class midfielder, was utterly dominate in midfield and lead our side with 8 tackles.

Yossi Benayoun 8
I don't think it's possible for a player to have as good a night as Yossi. 3 goals and 2 assists? Ridiculous. Man of the Match.

Andriy Voronin 7.5
An inspiring performance from the Ukrainian as his relentless attack caused problems all day for the Turkish side.

Peter Crouch 7
Get ready to hear a bunch of nonsense about Crouch being the reason we dominated this match. He wasn't. In fact, he missed quite a few opportunities that could have made the score even worse and turned over the ball many times. With that said, Crouch was good at creating space and drawing fouls. His effort should be commended.

Ryan Babel 7.5
Was a ball hog early, which appeared to annoy his teammates, but adapted and made a solid contribution. Once Kewell came on and he moved up front, he looked more comfortable. The first goal was simply brilliant and he was unlucky not to have a third when one of his headers from a corner hit the cross bar.

Harry Kewell & Lucas Leiva 6.5
Both players brought a lot of energy to our side, but neither really got enough time on to get comfortable. Kewell definitely needs a full match or close to it, so we can see what he can do.

I hope this match strikes fear into our upcoming opponents more it goes to our heads.

Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: Utterly Ridiculous

I think the score pretty much speaks for itself here, don't you? I was worried that we might be tired after expending so much vigor in the opening 32 minutes of the first half, but it appears that I was the only one who was wasting energy by thinking about it. The second half was just stunning.

Seven minutes in, Yossi Benayoun scored his second goal of the match on a rebound from a John Riise rocket that the keeper did his best to stop. Unfortunately it rolled right into the path of the Israeli International who was lurking in the area. Four minutes after that Yossi made it a a hat-trick on a similar free kick attempt by Steven Gerrard. Once again the Beşiktaş keeper failed to contain the shot and once again Yossi was there to calmly slot the ball into the net.

Now down by four goals, the Turkish side looked beat and bewildered. To their credit, they played staunchly, but never really looked the threat. Once Gerrard broke free on a one-two backheel from Voronin and slammed home a shot in the box with about 21 minutes left, the Beşiktaş spirit was officially broken. To make matters worse, Benitez put in Lucas and Kewell to go along with a newly-introduced Babel to rejuvenate the side.

Six minutes following Babel added to the opposition's woes by cheekily deflecting a Benayoun cross into the opposite side of the net. The brilliant finish appeared to do wonders for the young Dutchman's confidence as he looked the threat from then on. Not three minutes later though, he had to believe luck was on his side as well when a Beşiktaş clearance hit off his back, shot up into the air and landed on the other side of the goal-line. Simply ridiculous and pretty much summed up our evening.

We weren't done just yet though. In the closing minutes, as the attack was pushed forward by Lucas and Kewell, Yossi Benayoun found Crouch on a cross and the lanky striker notched his second goal of the night with a powerful header finish. We not only set a new Champions League margin-of-victory record, we crushed it by two goals.

The true character of this squad will now be revealed this Saturday when we travel to Craven Cottage. If we continue our no-holds barred, rampant ways that began with about twenty minutes left in the Blackburn match and proceeded to run over the Kara Kartallar all day today, then I think we can once again have hope of a season ending in some sort of success. If not, if we resort to playing the long-ball, getting in each other's way, fail to use the entire field, and basically give half-ass efforts all-around, well, then we'll know today was just a fluke.

The worst thing for this side to do is think that they've accomplished anything worthwhile. A record is nice, but if we fail to qualify for the next roudn of the Champions League, it doesn't matter. There's still plenty of work to be done and no time to really sit back and revel in victory over a side that we should have beat at their home. If we can carry this momentum into the next dozen matches, this season could end up being something special.

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.)

Liverpool vs Cardiff: the line-up

Here it is:
Itandje
Aurelio
Carragher
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Leto
Lucas
Gerrard
El Zhar
Babel
Crouch

Subs:
Martin
Riise
Kewell
Benayoun
Mascherano

Mascherano?! Wow, that was a quick recovery. Where's Sissoko? Hopefully he's okay. Anyhow, I'm really excited to see El Zhar out there, he's really improved over the course of the season with the Reserves and is fun to watch.

Harry Kewell starts from the bench, huh? Does that means he'll be available against Blackburn on Saturday? I guess it really depends on how much he plays today. Anything more than the last thirty minutes and he's probably questionable against the Rovers.

The backline looks familiar. Babel and Crouch up front is interesting. A lot of youth in Hobbs, Leto, Lucas, El Zhar, and Babel. Let's see how it goes.

Anfield Banter awards for September

Player of the month

This one is tough. Benayoun has made a strong case with the last two matches. His strike against Reading was crucial as it kick started the goal-scoring machine, not to mention it was a beaut. Obviously his cheeky score against Wigan was important as well. If it weren't for the Porto fiasco, Mascherano would be walking away with it and Riise has had his moments, but I think it has to go to Torres. He does so much on the pitch even if he hadn't scored at all the whole month, he'd still be a candidate for this accolade.

Goal of the month

There's really only three candidates here: Babel versus Derby, Yossi versus Reading, and Yossi versus Wigan. I'd have to give it to Yossi versus Wigan only because of it's importance. All three goals showed plenty of skill.

Assist of the month

Riise to Torres versus Reading was the first to come to mind, so it's got to be that one. Gerrard's through ball to Torres in the Reading match was nice as well.

Unsung hero of the month

Arbeloa, easy. He's played every minute of every match at three different positions. Though some of his performances have been subpar, we have yet to yield a goal from open play, so he's got to be doing something right.

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.

Today's Banter: McClaren coming around?, Barnes relates to Bentley, Mihaylov starts for Bulgaria U21, & more

- Let me first say that it would not bother me even for a second if Gerrard 'retired' from international play. Yes, I know that would never happen, since Stevie-G loves his country nearly as much as he loves his club, but one can dream, can't they? At least I hope so. Anyhow, it looks as if England boss Steve McClown has finally seen the light and decided to give Gerrard the kind of freedom alloted him at LFC. Wow, McClown, you're quite the manager. He even went as far as to call his number four the inspiration of the squad. Recalling the Andorra match at Camp Nou, the England boss stated when Stevie-G took control of the match in the second half and pushed the Three Lions through to three points, he knew how valuable Gerrard was. The fact that it took McClown this long to figure out how special Gerrard is should prove how incompetent he is.

- John Barnes has come out in support of David Bentley, questioning the so-called English 'fans' on what their motives were for booing the 23-year-old. I have to agree with the Liverpool Legend here. It does no good to react like that to one of our young hopefuls for any reason, if he had done something truly horrible, he would have never been offered a spot on the squad. It makes you look like donkeys and him insecure when we need to be instilling him with confidence. I was honestly ashamed by the display, no fan has any right to be any player's judge and jury, and I hope the lad doesn't take it to heart.

- Niklolay Mihaylov, one of thirty-odd keepers on our books, was on the losing end of a U21 match with England, 2-0, though apparently he did quite well in keeping it respectable for his out-manned Bulgarian side. The goals for England were scored by Tom Huddlestone and Mark Noble. I saw Mihaylov play in the preseason and though at times a bit melodramatic, I have to say he is quite good despite hearing otherwise. He is currently out on loan to Eredivisie side, FC Twente.

- Former manager Gerard Houllier has finally decided to end his holiday and become the new technical director of football for France. His first task is to help find a permanent home for Anthony Le Tallec. I personally think he should have to buy the 22-year-old midfielder from us with his own money to make up for the many mistakes he made as when he was in charge here.

- Finally, the transfer rumor of the day is Man City expressing interest in Yossi Benayoun. By the time January rolls around, Yossi will either be injured or be playing more often, so I doubt he'll be unhappy with his situation then. A lot of international matches today so unless something major happens I probably won't be posting until this evening. 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.

LFC Tea Time: Torres Injured, Gerrard trains, Finnan ruled out, Fagan denies stamping & Benayoun praises Stevie-G

- A pretty busy day for knocks and minor bruises on the Liverpool scene, speaking of which, Fernando Torres apparently slightly injured himself in training with Spain today on a challenge from David Abelda. It doesn't appear to be serious, but the 23-year-old striker said that it began to hurt more and more as the day wore on. He is still expected to play for his country in their upcoming Euro-qualifiers against Iceland and Latvia.

- Steven Gerrard participated more in training today for England as they prepare for their Euro-qualifiers against Israel and Russia. Apparently Stevie-G told McClaren that he would be fit for the first match against Israel at Wembley on Saturday. No word on whether he will receive an injection or not.

- With Finnan yet to show at Ireland's training in Malahide, Irish boss Steve Staunton has concluded that the right-back will not be available for his side's upcoming Euro-qualifiers against Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Finnan remained in Liverpool for treatment and assessment from club physicians.

- 25-year-old Derby County striker Craig Fagan has denied charges from the FA that he intentionally stamped on Alvaro Arbeloa's calf in last Saturday's match. He has appealed the decision and the case will now be heard by a regulatory commission tomorrow. Like I've said before, he may have not done it with the appearance of malice, but it looks very intentional.

- Yossi Benayoun has named Steven Gerrard as the best midfielder in the world and believes the Liverpool skipper will do all he can to play for England on Saturday. Not a bad compliment from a guy who has played multiple seasons in La Liga and now the Premiership. I have a feeling he just wants Gerrard to play, hoping he'll re-aggravate his injury, and bettering Benayoun's chances to get pitch time with the club. Just kidding. Cheers.

Benayoun on board

It looks as if it's official. Yossi Benayoun is now a member of the Liverpool Football Club. If he's beaten out Ryan Babel as the second signing of the off-season has yet to be determined, but it appears so.

I think he's a great pick up. He's creative, versatile, and has proven he can take the beatings of the Premiership doing so the last two seasons at West Ham. What kind of playing time he'll get though might be less up to him and more up to the performances and health of his competition in the midfield.

The Hammers primarily used him on the right, but I doubt he'll be able to take that spot from Jermaine Pennant. JP was dazzling at times last year and put in a good performance in Liverpool's opening pre-season match with Wrexham. On the left, if all goes as planned, Kewell and Ryan Babel will be splitting time. Though Benayoun has a chance to play at that spot, the competition will be fierce as King Harry will try to redeem himself of two years in the physio room and Babel will looking to prove his transfer worth. Save unforeseen consequences which would put Gerrard and Alonso out, chances of him playing in the middle are scarce.

In regards to injury, he might become invaluable, but it's pretty certain that he'll get plenty of pitch if he can carry the team past the early stages of domestic cups. Whatever happens, at least now we have added depth and quality to our side.