International Watch: the who, what, when, where, and why

Though I'm never too enthusiastic about our players risking injury for their country, I will admit that it gives me something to look forward to over the break. With that said, let's take a look at which players got call-ups and if applicable, what the situation is with their country in advancing to the European Championships next summer or in one case, World Cup qualifying.

First, Pepe Reina got the usual call-up to his native Spain to be the back-up to Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas. I honestly think Pepe is better than Casillas, but it doesn't bother me that he doesn't get to play. Torres, despite probably being fit enough, was not called-on, and Xabi is still injured. I'm sort of surprised Alvaro Arbeloa isn't taken into consideration, but I'm not going to argue over his exclusion. The group of defenders they appeared to call is actually quite strong for once, recently they've had a few injured.

Spain has ties with group leader Sweden and Northern Ireland, the former at Santiago Bernabéu and the latter at Gran Canaria. A draw in either of those matches nearly assures their advancement to the final, a victory definitely does. How big was the fan incident with Herbert Fandel for Denmark? It pretty much cost the Danes any chance of advancing, of course, drawing nil-nil with Northern Ireland both times didn't help either.

Both Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt will be in Rotterdam come Saturday as the Netherlands need a victory over Luxembourg to continue to the next stage of the competition. Sounds like a simple enough task as the Red Lions have just recently recorded their first competitive win in twelve years. Hopefully one of the two will not have to play in the following mid-week fixture at Belarus, so they'll be fresh for the Newcastle tie.

Sami Hyypiä will take the pitch for Finland as they basically need to beat Azerbaijan in Helsinki on Saturday and then travel to the Estádio do Dragão to take on the Portuguese. If Portugal beat Armenia in Leiria on Saturday it might not matter anyhow, as Cristiano Ronaldo's side has a +8 goal difference over Finland as it stands now and that will probably increase after Saturday. Plus if Serbia beats Kazakhstan and Poland, whom they both play in home country stadiums, the Serbs will probably get the nod ahead of the Finns since they also have a superior goal differential. Hopefully, that'll mean Hyypiä will get the mid-week fixture in Portugal off and be fresh when he returns to Liverpool, though Agger might be fit anyhow.

Andriy Voronin was called-up for the Ukraine, even though they have already been eliminated. The Zhovto-Blakytni first travel to Lithuania and then have a chance to spoil France's qualifying hopes in Kiev. Hopefully Oleg Blokhin will be trying out his ponies and let the elder players rest.

John Arne Riise got the usual call from Norway as they look to secure a qualifying spot against Turkey in Oslo. A win and the Norwegians are in. If they draw then all they need is a similar result at Malta on the 21st. Hopefully they'll wrap it up on Saturday and not need the services of Riise after that.

Ireland called-up Steve Finnan, which actually might be beneficial to us in the end. The 31-year-old hasn't donned the Liverpool kit since the Blackburn match, so maybe a little action for his country will keep his fitness up as they travel to Cardiff to face Wales to finish off their failed qualifying campaign.

Then we have England. Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch are both set to take the pitch for the Three Lions on the 21st against Croatia. Of course, if Russia beat Israel, I don't see the point in risking Gerrard, as I doubt Andorra will be able to hold the Russians to even a draw. An Israel draw with Russia, will assure England a great chance of advancing since Croatia would have already qualified and the match will be held at Wembley. Oh yeah, they also have that all important friendly with Austria this Friday.

Speaking of Israel, they will be without the services of their captain, Yossi Benayoun, who was injured in the Fulham match. Also, Danny Agger was not called up for Denmark in case you were wondering.

As for non-Euro qualifying international matches, Harry Kewell will be with Australia when they take on Nigeria in a friendly at Wembley on Saturday. If recent history tells us anything, it's that Kewell will most likely come off the bench. Hopefully the history of him getting injured for the Socceroos won't rear it's ugly head though.

Finally, Javier Mascherano will probably start for both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers, home against Bolivia on Saturday then at Colombia the following Tuesday. I'd be surprised to see him start against Newcastle on Saturday though, especially since Sissoko will be well-rested.

Today's Banter: Owners 'rift' rubbished, A return to England for Cissé?, Riise to stay, & Rush praises Rafa's tactics

Club Chief Executive Rick Parry has stated that the rift between Tom Hicks and George Gillett is totally fabricated. The 52-year-old revealed that he has recently spent time with both owners and drew no such conclusions of a breach in their partnership. Even if there was, I sincerely doubt the papers would know about it before something major occurred. Parry added that Gillett and Hicks are still on the same page concerning the future of the club and are working on a refinancing package to be completed in the next 30 days.

Former LFC striker Djibril Cissé may be on his way back to the Premiership. The 26-year-old French international has fallen out of favor with his current club, Marseille, and is looking to go elsewhere. It is no surprise that 'Money Bags' Shinawatra at Man City and Eggert 'Big Paper' Magnússon of West Ham are the two being linked to him. Cissé is married to an English woman and still owns a home in Cheshire.

John Arne Riise has rubbished claims that he'll be joining fellow Norwegian John Carew at Aston Villa in January. The recently turned 27-year-old seems very pragmatic about his current dip in form and is looking to improve. Riise has had glimpses of brilliance, but they've been far and few between. He was simply dazzling in the preseason, but at the very least, wholly inconsistent since. Maybe he can get some pointers from Hyypia about how to find his top self once again. I'd rather he stick around, but if he's going to continue to be a detriment, I can't see any reason to keep him aboard.

Finally, Ian Rush has praised Rafa for the tactics he employed in the Fulham match, especially bringing on Torres at just the right time. One of the things that he states in that article that I agree with is that he doesn't believe Rafa wanted to keep the same line-up as the Besitkas match. I really think Rafa did so as a message to his players that he doesn't always rotate on the basis of who's fresh or for tactical reasons. I think he wanted to let them know if they perform well, they'll get more playing chances, a notion some don't think Rafa believes in. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Torres left off Spain (yes!), Hicks after Roma?, Fulham post-match rubbish, & more

Luis Aragonés just became my favorite international manager. The 69-year-old Spaniard decided not to call-up Fernando Torres for Spain's two Euro-qualifiers with Sweden and Northern Ireland. With Xabi injured and Arbeloa not under consideration, it means only Pepe Reina will be with La Furia Roja, though with Iker Casillas still the number one, Reina probably won't play. I can now breathe a little easier knowing that Torres will more than likely start against Newcastle on the 24th at St. James Park. Rafa is happy with the 23-year-old striker's omission as well.

Word is Tom Hicks has inquired about possibly purchasing Serie A club AS Roma. First off, it's highly improbable that the club would sell to a foreigner since no Serie A club is owned by a non-Italian. Second, if there is even a glint of truth to the matter, it means that Hicks might be looking to get out of his co-ownership with George Gillett. UEFA rules prevent one person owning more than one team participating in UEFA competitions, so Hicks would have to sell his interest in LFC. Maybe the rumors of a rift between the two parties is true.

Was Lawrie Sanchez watching the same match that everyone else was on Saturday? Apparently not. The Fulham manager seems to think that his squad deserved at least a point for their efforts and that Liverpool was fortuitous to get the win. The 48-year-old said: "I actually felt that Torres mis-hit his final shot, and that is what confused Hughes and Niemi. It was a soft goal in the end to concede... As for the penalty, I don't believe it was in the box, it wasn't a penalty. I felt we had kept them quiet, restricted them to shots from outside the box in the first half." Well, as lucky as we were to get a 'mis-hit' goal and a penalty called for a non-penalty, we were also unlucky not to score a couple of more goals as well.

Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez has had plenty to say on a whole range of subjects. First, he expects Pepe Reina to get more assists like he did for Torres goal. I honestly don't think Rafa should be encouraging any long ball tactics especially if there's a chance the player could get carried away with the notion. It's nice to have that option, but only when it's used sparingly. Most of the time a goal doesn't come of it.

Next up, Rafa has said that not changing his line-up from the Besitkas match was just as much a risk as changing it would have been. In the end, he felt a few of the players were ineffective due to fatigue. I still don't understand why Riise was left in, he was pretty useless for the third or so straight match.

Finally, Benitez claims that Torres is not our side's most natural finisher. He feels that Kuyt and Voronin are naturally better. Uh, okay. Also in that link he talks about how Torres' pace was very effective against the tired Fulham side, which is why he decided not to start Fernando but instead use him in the super-sub role.

Steven Gerrard has spoken up about how he believes Steve McClaren is the right man for the England job. What is Stevie-G smoking? McClaren is well out of his element and lacks the vision, creativity, and balls to put a squad out for the Three Lions that will challenge for anything. The excuse that England doesn't have the horses of other European sides is a joke. The only countries that I would say have more talented are France and Spain. What England lacks is motivation and the right mix of players, but McClaren is incapable of the former and doesn't have the guts to put out any squad other than what is accepted as England's best though they may not be able to play with one another. 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.

Liverpool 2, Fulham 0: player grades

Reina 6
Made a great save on a Danny Murphy shot, but for the most part was required to do little. A mistake free effort nonetheless.

Fabio Aurelio 4
Aurelio is one of my favorite players, so it pains me to say he was poor. His passing was off and for the most part he was ineffective.

Carragher 6
Another solid match. Wanna take a stab at what his completion percentage for this match was? 98.2% on 57 attempts.

Hyypia 7
Defying logic, the Finn appears to be getting better the more he plays. He lead the side in tackles with 5.

Alvaro Arbeloa 8 Man of the Match
The Spaniard was fantastic in the first half, but less of a factor in the second. I'm sure fatigue had something to do with it. He took on defenders on attack and attackers on defense.

Riise 4
I have no clue as to why Rafa keeps starting the Norwegian when he has plenty of other options. For the most part he was inexistent and ineffective when involved.

Mascherano 7
His first half was forgettable, but his second half oozed class. If he could just study and master Xabi's passing ability, he'd be the best holding/defensive midfield in the world.

Gerrard 5
Was okay, made his usual runs and scored his fifth goal in six games. I expect more and better matches from him, but hopefully he's just preserving such performances when needs be.

Benayoun 5
He probably should have taken the night off. He was adequate in short spurts, but for the most part feckless.

Voronin 6.5
Seemed the threat and determined to be so, but his efforts proved fruitless. A better strike pairing might have done him better.

Crouch 4
So much for Crouch being a catalyst of our attack. Looks like he's reverted back to his normal form, giving the ball away and getting called for fouls. I can't wait to read the rubbish about him putting on anything but a poor display.

Torres 7
Scored a cheeky goal that was simply magic and was a threat the entire time he was on the pitch.

Babel 7
Impressed on the wing and caused havoc among the Fulham defenders. Still thinks he can take on the whole opponent's side by himself, and sometimes it appears he could, but he's got to realize he has ten other teammates out there with him. Once he does, he'll be that much better. Showed a different side to his game though with his tackling abilities.

Lucas 6
Nothing negative to say about the Brazilian's performance. He did what he had to in the time allotted.

Liverpool 2, Fulham 0: Torres saves the day

Using the same line-up against Fulham as they did against Besitkas, though unexpected from Rafa, eventually proved ineffective. In fact, our change in plan of attack might as well have been thrown out the door as the game-winning goal by Torres was set-up by a long ball. I guess it's okay to change-up in strategy from time to time, especially when one approach appears not to be working, but hopefully we'll try to go with the more patient approach first and then resort to other tactics if needs be.

The second half started promising as we tried to mount a calm and calculating attack. Mascherano took significant strides to erase the memories of his subpar first half display. We created opportunites, but failed to finish. One thing I noticed was the absence of Arbeloa who was so prominent in the first. He appeared to sit back more in the second though it didn't do much good, the flanks were used even less in the first, which I think was part of the problem of our inability to score.

Our attack and focus seemed to be concentrated in the central part of the field. Failure to use the whole field allowed Fulham to concentrate their defensive efforts as well, putting more bodies over the middle and basically 'getting in the way'. At one point a cross by Aurelio alluded the whole side and rolled to the right where not a single player was lurking past the far side post. Benayoun appeared to have free roam of the field, which ended up just making him null and void. In the Besitkas match, his constant pushing and domination of the right side of the field were crucial in creating opportunities for others.

Overall we won because of the amazing talent of our world class striker, Fernando Torres. The kid is simply amazing and his goal was exactly what we needed and exactly what Niemi, who was having an amazing match, did not expect. That's what you get for £26m and it was well worth it. It's a convenience that we can't afford to take for granted.

In some ways this match was a step back. We started off trying to get a quick, cheap goal via the long ball and though that pretty much eliminates our opponent's chances to score through counter, it's essentially the recipe for a nil-nil draw. We also failed to use the flanks, abandoning the notion almost entirely in the second half. Finally, our off-the-ball movement was inexistent or just lacked inspiration and intelligence. In the end, one could argue we were 'just lucky' and if it weren't for a Crouch dive, 'very lucky'.

Liverpool 0, Fulham 0: halftime thoughts

For the first ten minutes of this match, it appeared we didn't learn anything for the Besitkas match. Immediately we started lobbing the ball forward looking for a cheap goal instead of being patient, working hard, and trying to open up the Fulham defense. Thankfully we appeared to realize this and slowly worked our way back to playing intelligent football.

Surprisingly, for the most part, Fulham is not keeping ten behind the ball, but are still effectively absorbing our attack. It's probably the fact that luck seems to be more on their side and less on ours though. We've created chances despite appearing to be somewhat out of sync, but either Fulham was able to smother such efforts or we place it wide.

I can't really complain about anyone's effort on the whole, but Mascherano and Crouch are definitely not having their best matches. Masche is giving the ball away nearly every other time he touches it and Crouch has been wholly ineffective. The England International has collected more fouls than shots and he has turned the ball over virally. Basically just your average outing for the forward.

Our best player so far has been Arbeloa, who's been simply amazing. Twice he's taken on a Fulham defender on the flank and twice he's made him look like a donkey. He's also made some superb tackles and the yellow card was for incidental contact, which is ridiculous. Other players that have put in solid performances have been Voronin and Hyypia.

I'm hoping we come out in the second and patiently enforce our will. If we can just keep passing, working the ball around, something will eventually open up. If we do bring some other players in, I hope Torres, Lucas, and Babel all get to contribute to our effort. We look the better side and a draw here would be just as bad as a loss in my opinion.

Liverpool vs Fulham: same line-up as Tuesday?

You'll have to forgive me, I'm a little shell-shocked at the moment...

Here it is:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Voronin
Crouch

Bench:
Martin
Babel
Finnan
Torres
Lucas

Furthermore I was a bit surprised not to see Kewell on the bench. Riise played like absolute crap Tuesday, so I'd much rather see King Harry start on the left.

I'm sort of at a loss of words at the moment. If Crouch or anyone else doesn't perform, I'm not holding back. Rafa really out-did himself by not doing anything at all. Sort of brilliant. Cheers.

Today's Banter: The kids crush Bolton, Carson gone, God may need surgery, & Agger almost back

It's a match day so I'm not going to indulge as much as usual. First off, the Academy hailed brimstone and fire on the young Wanderers of Bolton to secure a 5-2 victory. Nathan Eccleston and David Amoo notched a brace apiece with Marvin Pourie adding the fifth. You know, I've heard of the latter two kids, but this Eccleston seems to be the business. Hopefully he'll continue to develop and progress so if he ever gets to the first team, we can stick it to the Mancs about stealing one of their own right out from under them. They can have their Cofie and biscuits and shove them you know where. Anyhow, youth coach Hugh McAuley was pleased with the scoring output, but disappointed that the clean sheet wasn't kept.

Well, it's looking more and more like a done deal that our keeper/super-model extraordinairre, Scott Carson, may be making his loan to Aston Villa permanent. Apparently we've agreed to terms with Martin O'Neill's side. I have mixed feelings about this as I think Carson is as good if not better than Reina, but the Spaniard is always going to get the nod with Rafa calling the shots. Hopefully we're getting a respectable chunk of change for him and can use that money to sign Masche permanently. In any case, I'm gonna dread when we have to face the Villans from now on, just another keeper with more cause to shut us down.

Word out of Cardiff is that Robbie Fowler is having hip issues. So much so that he may need surgery to fix the problem. Details are far and few between, but God is traveling to Germany sometime next week to see a specialist. He's the same guy that treated Michael Owen and Ronaldo, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Hopefully it's not as bad as thought and he'll be back to fitness in no time.

Speaking of getting back to fitness, the return of Danny Agger after the international break looks highly likely. The Dane has returned to training and as soon as he gets to fine fettle, he'll be back on the pitch for us. Maybe he'll feature for the Reserves on Tuesday, who knows, but we need him back ASAP. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Fulham: What will Rafa do?

The big question going into this match is what kind of part will Fernando Torres play? From what I've read, it appears that Rafa is contemplating starting the Spaniard. Apparently he's looked good in training, but I'd be a little shocked if he started. There has also been some speculation as to whether or not Rafa will start the same XI he did against Beşiktaş. I'll go ahead and save everyone the trouble, he won't. So with that...

In front of Reina, starting on the left, I'd be shocked not to see Aurelio. He looked pretty sharp on Tuesday and I would hope that Rafa would want to keep the Brazilian that way. In the middle we'll probably see Hyypia and Carra, not only because Arbeloa is the only other choice here, but also because the two elder Reds didn't have to expend much energy against Beşiktaş. Finally on the right I suspect Steve Finnan will get the nod against his former club. Arbeloa should be on the bench.

In the midfield, I don't know why because he was probably our worse player on Tuesday, but Rafa will probably start Riise. I'd personally rather see Kewell or even Benayoun, but I think the Norwegian will get the nod. In the middle I'm gonna say Sissoko and Mascherano, even though it'll probably be Gerrard paired with the Argentine. Finally on the right, it's either Gerrard or Benayoun, I'll decide shortly.

Up front I'm hoping Rafa starts the Dutch connection and gives Kuyt and Babel the call. Like it or not, Kuyt's part of the rotation. He lead us in goals in the league last year and he'll eventually get it going.

So here's my final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Kewell
Mascherano
Sissoko
Gerrard
Kuyt
Babel

Bench:
Martin
Arbeloa
Lucas
Torres
Benayoun

I changed my mind and put Kewell in for Riise. Probably wishful thinking, but oh well. I fully expect Torres to get a running out and for Lucas to get on if the Masche-Momo pairing isn't working or if we need a boost. I know Voronin is no where to be found but I honestly think the less he plays, the better he seems to be.

The thing I'll be looking for in this match is if we come out early with our blitzkrieg-style that we have been using since the last twenty minutes of the Blackburn match. Even if we don't create a goal early, we need to keep on pushing until we crack their defenses. One goal and as long as we keep going at the Cottagers, the floodgates will open. I don't expect another 8-0 or even 6-0, but 4-0 is very realistic and I hope Kuyt gets at least one for his confidence. Cheers.

Sometimes I wish Gerrard would get 'injured'

The word is Wayne Rooney got 'injured' today in training and will be out for a month. Just in time to miss two matches for England, the Austria friendly and the Euro qualifier against Croatia. Tell me, why is it that United players just happen to get injured right before they're about to go out on International duty? Rooney always seems to 'stump his toe' every time England comes a-knockin', especially when it's just a friendly, and I seem to recall Tevez earlier this season 'not feeling well enough' to play for Argentina when he was the only true striker on the United bench.

Other than not having to play the two matches for the Three Lions, Rooney will also miss two meaningless Champions League matches and Premiership ties with Blackburn, Bolton, Fulham, and maybe even the leviathan that is Derby County. Oh no! So he'll basically miss one match that they have a slight chance of not winning in the Rovers. The convenience of pulling up lame right now is a bit overwhelming. I know, I know, he left the training facility on crutches (no, my eyes aren't rolling).

Anyhow, wouldn't it be advantageous for Gerrard to get an elbow bruise or possibly even a hangnail and not be available to try and save McClaren's ass? Those two weeks off would probably do him wonders. And what about Harry Kewell, maybe King Harry can stick his fingers down his throat, throw-up, and then claim he's too sick to play for the Socceroos against Nigeria. That would be grand, but unfortunately not our style. No, I'm willing to bet that even though Torres might not play for us before the upcoming international break, that he'll probably still feature for Spain in their two Euro qualifying matches next week anyhow. That's just the kind of players that wear our crest.

Oh, and don't be surprised if Rooney makes another of his 'miraculous recoveries.'

Peter Crouch vs Dirk Kuyt: Who's the ideal second striker?

vs

It appears that following our 8-0 drubbing of Beşiktaş, the player that has gained the most points in the fans' approval ratings polls has been Peter Crouch. In my opinion, there were at least five other players on the pitch that night who were bigger contributors to our cause and that's not including either Steven Gerrard or Ryan Babel.

Most of those who are exalting Crouch's performance to delusional proportions appear to be the same people who kept complaining about his seemingly constant exclusion from the side in previous matches. Of course, none of them will admit that the England International has played a part now in five straight matches. Starting or not, if he doesn't take advantage of the time alloted him, when will he?

Crying over not getting the start when opportunity is clearly given, especially when afforded time when your opponents' energy levels have been somewhat depleted is irrational. A team player contributes to the whole no matter the circumstance and I, for one, would not be surprised if such a notion is not part of Crouch's character. His whining to the press in the past are a clear indication of that.

At the other end of the spectrum is Dirk Kuyt. Other than the Turkish side, the Dutch International seems to be the second biggest loser from Tuesday's Champions League clash. Coming off the match at Blackburn, where Kuyt clearly was not his best, the worse thing to happen would for an explosion of goals to occur with the second-year striker in the stands.

I'll be the first to admit that Kuyt has been in poor form so far this year, but Crouch has as well, and one match a season doesn't make. How quickly has everyone forgotten about the Marseille match where if Crouch had gotten a red card in the first ten seconds, we would have probably had a better chance of winning. The lanky striker was so horrid that one could easily make an argument that he was throwing the match.

In fact, since both strikers got a chance to take the pitch, let's take a closer look at their performances in the Marseille match, one I consider to be the worse home loss in Liverpool history. Crouch played 75 minutes before being subbed off for Kuyt. Now guess which of the two took a shot? Crouch, who played nearly 80% of the match, or Kuyt who was on for only about 20%? If you guessed the former, you're wrong. Crouch failed to take a single shot, not a shot-on-goal mind you, but an attempt in general, not even a half-assed, ten-feet off the mark crack at the net.

Comparing these two is not easy because they have such different styles. Crouch's strength is obviously his height. Outside of the box, he best uses the attribute to set-up others, while inside the box, other than scoring goals with his head, he puts it to use to create space for his teammates. Kuyt is more of a 'utility' forward, utilizing his passing abilities to set up others and his movement off the ball to create space.

Before I get into the statistical comparison of the two players, I just want to say that though neither player will be at their respective countries' Olympic trials for the 100m dash ever, Kuyt clearly has more pace than Crouch. A blind man listening to the rate of their footsteps could tell you that. Now for the bread and butter.

What do you look for in a second striker? Probably the penultimate player at the position is Wayne Rooney. Last Premiership season, he was second in assists and goals for Man U with 14 and 11 respectively, he's goal/attempt percentage was 31%, and he had a pass completion rate of 72.8%. He's also a decent defender at that spot with 30 tackles at a 78.9% success rate, 9 interceptions, and 47 fouls committed. Now that's quality.

Let's look at Crouch and Kuyt's total Premiership stats, last season and this season combined. First, Crouch has played in 36 matches, 17 as a substitute, with an average of 43.7 minutes per match. His minutes are irrelevant though and actually comes back to bite him, but I'll get to that later. He has scored 9 goals, assisted on 6 others, his goal/attempt percentage is 23.1%, and his pass completion rate is 67.3%. His defensive stats are: 10 tackles at a 71.4% success rate, 5 interceptions, and 42 fouls.

Kuyt's Premiership combined stats are: 43 matches played, 34 as a starter, 9 off the bench, with an average of 76.4 minutes per outing. He has scored 14 goals, assisted on four others, his goal/attempt percentage is 35.9%, and his pass completion rate is 71.2%. Finally, his defensive stats are: 41 tackles at a 70.7% success rate, 15 interceptions, and 64 fouls.

So what does this conclude? Well, that Kuyt is clearly the superior all-round player, something which should be required from a second striker. Crouch takes nearly twice as many shots per ninety minutes and is far less efficient at putting them in the net. He also commits way too many fouls for the significantly less time he is on the pitch than Kuyt. Every time he misses a shot or commits a foul, he gives the opposition possession of the ball, allowing them the opportunity to score.

Kuyt is the better passer and can provide some defensive help while Crouch is best suited to leave that side of the pitch alone. In fact, I make no qualms in saying Crouch is a defensive liability. I don't mean to put down Crouch, but anyone who thinks he's better suited to line-up beside Torres, you're wrong. Voronin maybe, but if both Kuyt and the Ukrainian are at the top of their game, I'll take Dirk most of the time.

The thing that bothers me most about Crouch is when he sits near the middle of the field waiting for someone to serve him the ball so he can head it forward to Gerrard or Babel or whomever is screeching down the field. That's the thing, without someone there to service Crouch, he's useless at the spot. I'd much rather see him further down the field, which opens up space over the middle for Gerrard. All I'm really saying is that Crouch is best suited near or in the box, while Kuyt is the better second striker.

Is Javier Mascherano worth £18.8m?

If we end up buying Mascherano from Kia Joorabchian & Media Sports Investment (MSI) that's the total it will cost us, £17m for the transfer plus £1.8m we paid in the loan deal. That's an awful lot for a defensive midfielder.

In fact, it would be the second most Liverpool has ever paid for a player and I believe the second highest transfer fee ever for a defensive/holding midfielder by any team. Michael Essien is the only other player of that position who cost more. Chelsea bought him for £24.4m from Lyon in the summer of 2005, but one could argue that he's more of a box-to-box midfielder as well.

Honestly, if you look at what Man United paid for Owen Hargreaves, we'd be getting a steal. The Red Devils paid £17m for the Canadian, of whom Mascherano is clearly a class above and nearly four years younger. Also, Javi is a year-and-a-half younger than the aforementioned Essien, and in my opinion, of similar quality.

Masche is clearly a positive influence to our side. His untiring devotion and reckless abandonment that he displays on the field is inspiring to say the least. Most of all, he allows Steven Gerrard to roam freely without worry of getting back on defense. That, in itself, is priceless.

Of the 22 matches Mascherano has played for us, we've only lost three. Two of which to dubious circumstances, but I won't divulge for the sake of getting off-subject. Probably the most impressive aspect is that we are 3-1-1 with Masche on the pitch against the big four: Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Everton. He clearly makes us a better side.

The flip-side of the argument is that we have Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, and Damien Plessis. I won't include Lucas in the equation, but he, like Stevie-G, is very well capable of playing that role. Xabi has proven himself again and again to be a class player, Momo is getting there, despite what his overcritical naysayers cry, and I've been quite impressed with Plessis the few times I've had the chance to watch him play, but he's only 19 and it'll be at least a couple of years before we'll see if he develops into a first-team regular.

Rafa has stated that keeping Mascherano is a priority, but if we do lose him, I don't think it's a devastating loss. I personally want him to play out the rest of his career with us as he has become one of my favorite players. So much so that I try to catch every Argentina match he's set to play. Also, knowing his ability and commitment, I'm fearful of ever seeing him in one of our rivals' kits.

The only thing I worry about is whether or not we could use those funds to buy players in areas in which would better benefit the squad. There's no doubt Mascherano is worth it, but we desperately need a class centre back and another class striker. Hopefully we can buy him and fill those other needs as well.

Today's Banter: Gerrard named to FIFPro World XI, Sanchez praises Rafa, Pako to West Ham? & more

Steven Gerrard has added another honor to his long list of accolades by being named to the 2006-07 FIFPro XI. Surprisingly, it's the first time he's won the distinction. He also became the first Liverpool player to be named to the list, which is selected by 'more than 57,000 footballers from players' associations around the world.' A bit baffling as to why Gianluigi Buffon was named to the side though. I'm not saying he's undeserving skill-wise, but he played in Serie B last season. That would be like Stephen Bywater making it.

For all of Rafa's rotation policy critics, take a gander at what Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez had to say about our manager: “Liverpool are probably the most difficult team in the Premier League to prepare for. I’ve got no idea what their team will be but you’ve got to give credit to a man who has won the UEFA Cup, was a Champions League finalist and has won the Spanish League twice – he obviously knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t fit in with what people do in this country but at the end of the day, they’ve just won a game 8-0.” He even forgot about actually winning the Champions League, but I'll let that slide. The former Wimbledon star goes on to say how he expects a totally different line-up than the poor man's side they faced towards the end of last year when we were concentrating on the Champions League. This is only coming from a man who had Northern Ireland at the top of it's Euro-qualifying group before leaving for the Cottagers. What does he know?

The rubbish rumor of the day is Rafa's former assistant, Pako Ayesteran, becoming West Ham United's technical director. Alan Curbishley has dismissed such speculation adding that the newly-created position was still very early in the selection process. Also I'm pretty sure that the 44-year-old Spaniard is contractually prohibited from working with an English side at least until the end of this season if not longer. He's stated his desire to return to Spain anyhow, so I highly doubt he'll work in England again anytime soon if ever.

In some pre-match news, Fulham expects to have Chris Baird back from injury with Carlos Bocanegra also returning from suspension. Paul Konchesky, who scored a fluke goal for West Ham against us in the 2006 FA Cup final, and 18-year-old defender Elliot Omozusi will both be unavailable serving bans. The Cottagers have a total of seven players sidelined with injury: Moritz Volz (shoulder and groin), Phillipe Christanval (knee), Kasey Keller (bicep), Lee Cook (knee), Ian Pearce (ankle), Brian McBride (knee) and Jimmy Bullard (knee). I personally can't wait to see Bullard finally return after being out over a year with a devastating knee injury. The Newham-born midfielder was wreaking havoc in the league early last season before going down and is expected to return either later this year or sometime in January.

In player transfer news, James Smith has returned from his loan spell with Stockport, but wishes to go back to the Hatters on a permanent basis. The 22-year-old defender was a regular starter for the League Two side. You would figure Smith being a local lad and all would want to make his mark with our club and it's not like there isn't opportunity for a centre-back, but maybe he's been told he's got little chance by Rafa or something of that sort. Also, just a short note before I bid adieu, it looks like Steve Cotterill will have little say in where and for how much young Burnley starlet John Cofie goes since the 43-year-old was let-go from his managerial position of the Clarets yesterday. Cheers.

Fabio Aurelio: Video Profile

Liverpool videos
A compilation of skill displayed before his injury last year (mind the music):


His dead-on cross-assist to Crouch versus Galatasaray last season:


Valencia videos
Free kick versus Recreativo:


Goal versus Barcelona:


Header goal versus Celta de Vigo:


Great finish against Mallorca:


Goal against Real Madrid:

Today's Banter: De-constructing Rafa, Babel babble, & A look at our depth

There isn't really much going on in the world of Liverpool Football Club, just reiterations of yesterday's headlines, so I've decided to just ramble on about a bunch of nonsense. Feel free to share your opinions below.

Before I go down that long and winding (or winded, which ever you prefer) road, there's an excellent piece on Rafa's obsession with our club and football in general by Oliver Kay at the Independent.ie. It gives good reason to laugh at all those who feel as if they are obligated to criticize the boss' managerial decisions. He puts in the time and has the trophies to prove it.

Anyhow, moving on, I think it's time Ryan Babel is made a permanent part of our striker force, don't you? From the looks of our last three matches, Rafa may have already decided to do so. He started there against Cardiff and when Kewell came on for Voronin in the Beşiktaş match, the young Dutchman was moved up to partner Crouch. He appears more comfortable there anyhow and in fact, when he plays for the Netherlands, that's his normal spot.

It seems as if when he does occupy the left, he's basically trying to play the role of a forward instead of a winger anyhow. Though I think it would be great if he learned to be effective on the flank, his talent seems best suited up front. With Harry Kewell back to share left wing duties with Riise and occasionally Benayoun, Babel is really no longer needed over there.

Which brings me to squad depth. Just for kicks, let's take a gander:

GK - Pepe Reina, Charles Itandje (inj), David Martin
LB - John Arne Riise, Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua (res)
CB(2) - Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger (inj), Sami Hyypia, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jack Hobbs
RB - Steve Finnan, Alvaro Arbeloa, Stephen Darby (res)
LM - John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Sebastian Leto (res)
HM - Javer Mascherano, Xabi Alonso (inj), Momo Sissoko
AM - Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Xabi Alonso (inj), Momo Sissoko
RM - Jermaine Pennant (inj), Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel
F2 - Dirk Kuyt, Andriy Voronin, Peter Crouch
F1 - Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Peter Crouch

(I put in bold who I believe to be our ideal starter at that spot, (inj) = injured, and (res) = primarily a Reserves player but capable of filling in on the first team on an emergency basis.)

The thing that stands out to me is our lack of depth at centre back. With Babel establishing himself as a forward, our focus during the January transfer window has to be a class centre back at any cost. Even when Agger gets back, having Jack Hobbs even in the depth chart is a scary aspect. The kid may be good one day, but he's still very raw.

The depth on the flanks is great, but most goals are scored from the middle of the field. One of the most positive results of the Beşiktaş match was that Hyypia and Carra had to do very little, which means they'll probably be pretty fresh come Saturday. After that, there's a two week layoff for the international break, which means when the team plays again at St. James Park on the 24th, we could have a full, fresh squad including Danny Agger and possibly Xabi Alonso.

Some other links to kill some time:
- Before there was Stevie Finnan, there was Jimmy Willis
- Carra calls on the entire squad to improve

Not Kewell: Harry called-up for Aussies

Tell me when I can stop holding my breathe.

There are very few things that upset me when it comes to my beloved Liverpool. Losing to Manchester United, losing to Everton, losing to Chelsea, and players being called-up for international duty are four of them. You can imagine how happy I was to hear Jamie Carragher quit England and that poor excuse of a manager in McClaren. It was probably on par with us winning the League Cup.

I groan every time I realize an international weekend is coming up because I know it puts so many of our players at risk while not on-duty for their club. This year has been no different. Torres seems to suffer some kind of affliction every time he goes to play for Spain. What's even more disconcerting is that it usually occurs in training. While Gerrard put rest and recovery from an injury aside to play for the Three Lions not too long ago and he's just now getting back to form.

The king of getting injured while playing for their country though has to be Harry Kewell. The Aussie missed all but 77 minutes last year after sustaining a freak injury in the World Cup that stemmed from blisters getting infected, eventually seething into his bloodstream and leading to a vicious case of tendinitis flaring up in a hairline fracture of his toe.

He then pulled a muscle in his groin playing for his country in the Asia Cup this past summer. Though he thought it wasn't that severe, he appeared to come back too early and re-aggravated the injury in the preseason. Talk about your bad luck.

So you can understand the collective rumblings heard throughout the Liverpool Nation when news of King Harry's call-up for Australia was announced. The thing that bothers me most is that it's for their upcoming friendly with Nigeria in London. I just don't fathom why he is risking injury for a friendly? I would at least have some understanding if it was World Cup qualifying, but it's not.

Furthermore, Kewell's coming to that age where he's going to need to make the difficult decision of club or country. It would seem to make sense for Rafa to ask Harry to quit his country before offering the Australian a new contract. King Harry is 29-years-old and probably doesn't have many more productive years left in him. He'll have even less if he expends his time and energy playing for the Socceroos.

Liverpool 8, Beşiktaş 0: post-match reaction

Cooler heads will prevail. Liverpool fans need to take that statement to heart. We won nothing but a match yesterday and need to realize that. Fabio Aurelio knows exactly what I'm talking about. The 28-year-old Brazilian has pleaded with everyone to remain focused: "Winning 8-0 against Besiktas gives us confidence and we need to take that on. We knew we needed to improve after recent results and we still need to improve. We must still work really hard - starting on Saturday. We must keep pushing ourselves." It was only one positive step forward on a long, arduous journey to come.

The Irish, ever self-involved, made a point to say that one of their own 'played no part' in the record-breaking performance yesterday. I disagree. Finnan is one of our best and most important players, without him available to rotate and rest Arbeloa, there's no way the Spaniard would have been able to put on the performance that he did. Finney should be back to take on his former club, Fulham, on Saturday.

Turning to the blogs, we have Who ate all the Pies? chiming in with their '10 conclusions' of the match. That site never ceases to amaze me with the brainless drivel they produce. Taking a quick gander, they make a half-assed attempt to pat themselves on the back with their first conclusion by stating that Rafa should play Crouch more often. More often? No surprise that a superficial site, easily manipulated by the media, would fail to do any research. Crouch has now appeared in five straight matches for us. I'm not going to spend much more time deriding such nonsense, but the eighth conclusion caught my eye as well: "I have never rated Alvaro Arbeloa particularly highly, but he was outstanding at right-back last night. Whether that was just because his defending was never really called into question remains to be seen." First off, they've never rated Arbeloa because they're Man U fans, but I won't get into that. Second, um, did you not watch the Champions League match at Camp Nou last season? Arbeloa owned that nobody Lionel Messi, there must have been a Man U match on at the same time. Anyhow.

Another blog that tries to woe the hits with shock jock headlines is CaughtOffside. One of their reactions to the match was this: "Rafa Benitez gets cocky after Liverpool thrash a very bad team." It's quite convenient that the article was apparently without an author as no one with even the intelligence of a baboon would own up to such rubbish. It was probably either an Everton or Man U fan sickly green with envy. The backbone-less author alludes to the thrashing of Derby and how it made us Liverpool fans 'think they might win the title before they went on their usual run of disappointing draws and losses.' What losses is he referring to? We're still undefeated in the league and only six points out from Arsenal. His delusion continues by trying to ridicule and spin Rafa's post match comments from yesterday by trying to convince himself that Rafa believes Beşiktaş are on par with the best clubs in the world. A pathetic attempt to assuage his irrationality nonetheless.

Unlike our friend over at CaughtOffside, the Guardian printed more of what Rafa said instead of just picking and choosing to spin and manipulate. If you want to read more on that, go here. It's funny how it sounds completely different when one lacks an agenda, doesn't it?

The Beşiktaş side is expectedly dire in their response. Their manager, Ertuğrul Sağlam, only had this to say before walking out on the post-game press conference: "It is very upsetting and we would like to apologise to our fans. It is very difficult to accept a result like this. We know we must work harder and we will do. Thank you very much." Club president Yildirim Demiroren seemed to think hard work won't be enough as he has proposed letting players go for such an embarassing result. Wow, that's a bit harsh. Imagine if we did that after the Marseilles match. There's a good chance Peter Crouch wouldn't have been around for this one if so.

Finally, two quick links if you have time to kill: icLiverpool has a list of greater European victories & the ever-intriguing Paul Tompkins sounds off on yesterday's match. 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.

Our Champions League scenario

I just wanted to clear this up since there seems to be a misunderstanding of what it will take for us to advance. First off, our destiny is basically in our own hands. If we win out, we advance, it's (almost) that simple.

The only way we don't advance by winning out is if Marseilles has a greater goal differential in the overall group and we beat the French side by the exact score of 1-0. For that to matter though, l'OM will have to beat Beşiktaş by at least ten goals, given we defeat Porto by only a goal. The reason the fourth tie-breaker of group goal differential would come into play is because we both would have beaten each other on opposing grounds by the score of 1-0, thus eliminating the head-to-head and away goals tie-breakers.

Get it? Got it? Good.