Liverpool at Man City: I have no clue what Rafa will do...

...mainly because I've been computer-less for about a week now. Which is also the reason for my lack of updates. I apologize, but hey, Man U lost today and Arsenal is losing (knock on wood).

Because I don't have a computer, I'm pretty much lost in what's going on in Liverpool land, so I don't have much of a clue of who's set to go. Is Arbeloa still ill? Have there been any fresh injuries? I have no clue.

So here's my guess anyhow:
Reina
Auelio
Agger
Carragher
Arbeloa (or Finnan)
Riise
Xabi
Mascherano
Gerrard
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Finnan (or Hobbs)
Babel
Kewell
Benayoun

That's who I'd go with anyhow, pretty much what I consider our best defensive XI. With United's loss today, a win tomorrow has become even more crucial. Cheers, and I should be back tomorrow with a recap though I won't be announcing the starting line-up.

Are Man U fans worried?

I'm not sure what warranted this, but I would think that Red Devils supporters would be more concerned with Arsenal than poor, little Liverpool. I hope this doesn't lead to a Chelsea-like treatment. Blues fans seem to write and talk more about us than they do their own side, it would be quite sad to see the mighty Man U crowd go the same route.

And by the way, there's a reason why Man U have won so many Premiership titles and other than a few spurts during the Busby years, were non-competitive in the Old First Division. It's called the Michael Jordan effect, used by the league, in this case, the revamped top flight English football league, and the media that reap the most benefits from it's success, which would be Sky. Creating excitement by having one side constantly and consistently dominate is a great way to draw 'fans' of the insecure nature, they will then have something to feel confident about. Most Man U supporters aren't fans of football, they're sad losers who haven't a chance in life, so they needed to grasp to anything that represents otherwise, ethics aside.

And since I'm using this post as therapy, that Chelsea-Villa match was horrible. Laughable decision after comical call, the ref made a mockery of the sport. When are we going to get a fifth official, video replay, and open mics on the officials? Oh for the integrity of the game.

Liverpool 2, Derby 1: When we find ourselves in times of trouble...

...all we have to do is call on Stevie-G. Fekkin' brilliant.

And he had a shit match otherwise.

As I said in my preview, this was not going to be an easy task, but the determination of our fearless captain pulled it out... again. I know I don't have to say it, but there's absolutely no player in the world with his class. Not even close. He can be having a woeful day and then put our side on his back and refuse to accept to defeat as he did. Absolutely, positively, fekkin' magic.

Fernando Torres, also once again, showed why we paid £20m for him. His goal was a phenomenal piece of class, something you rarely get to see at this level. It's disappointing that he can't play so mesmerizingly genius the entire match, but I'll take the few seconds that he can.

Derby needs to be commended for their effort. They certainly didn't deserve to walk away with nothing. I can already read the rubbish headlines now and honestly, it's disrespectful to the Rams. They were the better side in the second half by a mile.

I'm not sure what our deal was, maybe we were looking ahead to Sunday's match at Eastlands, but that's no excuse. We were not a top side today, to say the least. I was disappointed in Rafa's tactics as well. I would have gone with a different starting line-up and taking Hyppiä off, unless he was injured, was clearly a mistake.

I'll get into individual efforts when I do my player ratings, but if I had to pick a Man of the Match right now, I have no clue who'd I pick. Torres and Gerrard for their mere seconds of genius and conviction I guess are deserving, as is Xabi for his brilliant passing. In fact, Alonso made two world class passes in the first five minutes of the match, something we usually fail to do an entire ninety minutes.

And when the night is cloudy, there's still a light that shines on me... Stevie F'n G.

Liverpool at Derby: Strangedays Rafa returns

Here's the verdict:
Reina
Aurelio
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Gerrard
Alonso
Babel
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Benayoun
Lucas
Kuyt
Mascherano

I don't know where to begin. Babel on the right? No defensive players on the bench? Well, other than Mascherano, but that doesn't really count. I have concerns... this is a good side, not our best possible, but still, no excuses for anything less than three points.

My 2007 World's Best XI

I'm pretty bored, so I thought I'd throw my irrelevant two cents into the mix. Here's who I think were the world's best XI in 2007. Feel free to flog me, I know nothing, of course.

GK - Petr Čech
Casillas, Reina, and Buffon are all incredible, but some of the saves Čech makes are just plain silly. Rarely does a side score against him without a phenomenal effort.

LB - Gianluca Zambrotta
Heinze, Thuram, and Lahm are all tremendous as well, but Zambrotta is probably the most consistent.

CB - John Terry
CB - Fabio Cannavaro
Just too many good ones, and really, it comes down to personal preference. Carra would no doubt be in the squad. I don't really want to get into it, but these are the two I would trust most if I were managing the world's best XI.

RB - Steve Finnan
Yeah, I know I'll get plenty of flack for this one, but Finney was the second best overall defensive player in the Premiership last season according to Actim and his qualities are undeniable. Even at 31, he's arguably the best right wing-back in the world. Dani Alves and even Arbeloa deserve recognition as well.

LM/LW - Lionel Messi
This isn't even debatable. Not even Ronaldinho takes his spot.

CM/DM - Javier Mascherano
Simply the best defensive midfielder in the world. Dietmar Hamann is going to be hard to leave out of the squad though.

CM - Steven Gerrard
If I have to defend this pick, you're a victim of the anti-English press or your own inability to know world-class when you see it.

RM/RW - Kaká
You can pretty much start him anywhere at midfield or forward with this side. With Gerrard and Mascherano there to provide cover, he, like Messi, are just additional forwards.

FW - Fernando Torres
FW - Didier Drogba
As with CB, there's just so much quality at that spot that it comes down to personal preference.

Squad (23 total):
Pepe Reina
Jamie Carragher
Cristiano Ronaldo
David Villa
Philipp Lahm
Andrea Pirlo
Patrice Evra
Franck Ribéry
Carles Puyol
Ronaldinho
Dani Alves
Deco

I think I'm pretty fair in my assessment overall. Like I said, I think the Finnan pick is a bit controversial, as even a lot of Liverpool fans don't seem to realize his consistency and contributions though he's clearly a tremendous player. Alves is not as good as Finney defensive-wise, but he is superior in the pace and attacking aspects.

I really hate putting Pirlo on just the squad. He's probably my favorite Italian player and for someone who loathes the Italian game, he'll always be one of my favorite players of all-time. Gattuso is nothing compared to Mascherano, and I'm not having a go with that, I'm just preaching the truth.

I don't feel as if I have to defend putting Carra on the squad, but I will. First of all, go ask the Milan and Chelsea players how good he is, they'll tell ya. Second, he's also pretty versatile having played fullback for Liverpool in his earlier years, and he can even play defensive midfield, as he has with England.

I'm pretty confident that this side could go undefeated and win any league at the moment and the Champions League and domestic cup as well. There's just very little fault. They may not be as defensive-minded as even I would like, but a clean sheet against a side of this caliber would be an unbelievable effort.

My LFC Player of the Year: Javier Mascherano

Let me first say that Steven Gerrard is definitely just as deserving, but I think Masche's contributions to the side in the past twelve months have been equally important and influential. Others that I considered were Finnan, Arbeloa, Reina, and of course, Carragher, but it really only came down to two.

Mascherano became a huge asset to our side when we got him on loan last January. His impact was instantly evident after immediately stepping into our starting side and I truly believe that it was the addition of him that lead us to our second Champions League final in three years. Not to mention he made Kaká look very average in that match.

I have little problem calling the Argentine the best defensive midfielder in the world. His most important contribution to the side though, as I've mentioned in the past, is that he allows Steven Gerrard to roam around the pitch unfettered. He has gained the trust of our iconic captain, which is probably the greatest comment a player of Gerrard's caliber can offer.

Like in chess, to be able to dominate the middle of the pitch is instrumental in winning a match, and Masche has shown to be able to do so in world-class fashion. He displays such brilliance with an undying effort and at least appears to wear the shirt with unequaled passion as if he was a Scouser himself. To say we need to lock him down for the rest of his career should be added to the dictionary as an example of redundant.

Liverpool at Derby: What would Carra do?

In the spirit of Saturnalia, I thought I'd do a little role reversal and with Carra considered the player most knowledgeable football-wise on the side, he would most likely switch with Rafa.

I have a feeling that this match will be a lot tougher than we hope. First off, Derby has been playing better as of late under Paul Jewell who took over at the end of November. They basically held United to three goals at Old Trafford and were unlucky not to get three points at St. James Park, though it isn't as if that is a monumental task these days. I don't buy the rubbish of their injury issues either, there's not a huge discrepancy of talent between their normal starters and their bench, so pride and determination would play a huge part to begin with.

As for who we'll play, I'm not completely convinced we need to go with our best available side. Man City awaits on Saturday at Eastlands, so I'm not sure it's wise to risk fatigue and injury. Crouch's suspension doesn't help though, a front line of Kuyt and Voronin would seem a bit futile, though we could start Babel there. I think Hobbs is likely to get the start over 'Old Man' Hyppiä.

Here's my guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Carra
Hobbs
Arbeloa
Kewell
Xabi
Lucas
Benayoun
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Riise
Hyypiä
Babel
Gerrard

If Crouch was available, I could definitely see him starting here. I believe Finnan is still injured, if not, he'd also probably get the start. I think we'll win, just not as impressively as most will think. I'm sure the 2-0 victory by Chelsea at Pride Park in late November will elude the ever omnipotent post-match press, once the reviews are published. Cheers.

Pompey fans struggling for positives, slag off on Anfield

I just had to share this link.

Apparently they don't have much to take from the actual match, understandably so. Anyhow, I guess we Liverpool fans should be 'very, very, very, very, very embarassed' that playing a truly small and insignificant club like Portsmouth doesn't get us going.

Yes, I'm 'avin a larf!

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: Stat of the match

I guess I really should say 'stats' of the match. I'm a number geek, if you can't tell, and what's interesting about this match is that while we dominated possession, 60.5% to 39.5%, they took the territorial advantage, 56.5% to 43.5%. That basically means that, while we had the ball for a large majority of the match, we did little going forward when doing so. What's even more impressive is that our average place of possession winning was at the 28.07m line as opposed to the 27.29m line for them. So, in other words, when we gained possession, we did a phenomenal job of working the ball around, though not necessarily forward. In this case, since we won, patience truly was a virtue.

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: player ratings

I have a hard time saying any of our players were phenomenal today and that's pretty amazing considering we won by three goals against a decent side. The scoreline was deceiving, but I'm wondering if our intentions were as well. We appeared to return to our quick-strike methods where we worry little about bringing the ball forward in a patient, designed fashion, and instead just lob it forward or make a decisive past to a streaking player. Torres and Babel allow us to do such things and it appears that complaints about the 'long ball' tend to fade when you score a plethora of goals doing so. Anyhow, on to the ratings. Here's the scale:
1 - Take off the f*%kin' kit
2 - Still not fit to where it
3 - It better have been just a poor day
4 - Drink too much last night, did we?
5 - Glad you showed up
6 - Good effort, but you could do better
7 - Solid performance
8 - Brilliant at times, adequate at others
9 - Top man
10 - Unbelievably f&*kin' brilliant

Pepe Reina 5.5
The goal wasn't really his fault and he was his adequate self for the rest.

John Arne Riise 6
I'm not sure if I'm flattering him with that grade or not. He appeared to be trying less than recently, and I think it helped him out. He didn't force much and didn't try to get to involved on the attack. Maybe he deserves a better grade? I just want the Old John Arne Riise back, this was at least a step in that direction.

Jamie Carragher 6.5
Carra was instrumental in keeping the ball away from Portsmouth and also set Torres' second goal with a pass to Gerrard. Still, it certainly was a less memorable performance than the Chelsea tie, but at the same time, he was called upon to do less as well.

Sami Hyypiä 6
Again, like Carra, his acumen on the ball helped to keep the it out of Pompey's grasp, but at times he looked as if even he'll be happy to see Agger return.

Alvaro Arbeloa 6.5
Our only defender to really be involved on attack throughout and was beneficial to the side in doing so. The yellow card was somewhat justified, if not harsh.

Harry Kewell 6
Honestly, if he hadn't got the assist on the Benayoun goal, it would have been a pretty poor day for the Aussie. He gave away the ball way too often and clearly lacked the ingenuity to truly take any Pompey players on. Still, he got that assist.

Mascherano 7 Man of the Match
Yes, he made errors and yes, he turned over the ball and yes, I've seen him play better, but he will be in the Portsmouth's players nightmares tonight after hassling them to no end. He also set-up Torres' first goal with a brilliant pass to Babel.

Gerrard 6
I'm being quite flattering to our skipper with that grade, but I think he might have been still suffering a little from the flu. His passing was simply horrid and he could create shit-all, well, accept for the brilliant assist to Torres that is.

Benayoun 6.5
Yossi scored an awesome volley goal, which really jump-started our attack, but he really wasn't too involved overall. I honestly think that may be more his teammates' fault, he certainly tried to make himself available.

Dirk Kuyt 5.5
All I want to know is what happened to the Kuyt of the preseason? The Kuyt who went and tried to enjoy playing football? The one that tried cheeky passes and roamed around the pitch like a man with little worries? We need him back and fast.

Fernando Torres 6.5
A brace and he actually had a better passing day than usual, even though you wouldn't know it unless you... well, did.

Ryan Babel 7
If this kid just works on his passing intuition, he's going to be magic. That's two more goals while he was on the pitch, and he was clearly influential in both of them. By the way, we average a goal every 38 minutes he's on the pitch.

Fabio Aurelio N/A
Lucas N/A
Neither Brazilian really got to break a sweat.

Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: Explosions of brilliance

I think I'm finally getting a feel for our side. Honestly, we really didn't play that well overall. Mascherano was his ever-present disruptive self, Benayoun put us up with a brilliant finish from a Kewell pass, Torres notched a brace, and Babel caused havoc in his usual super-sub role, but it was far from calculated dominance. That's the thing, if we can just be ridiculously brilliant in surges and play adequate defense, most of the time, we're going to walk away with three points. I'd almost rather see such an approach than the tedious possession-based, reserved approach we've had to take pre-Torres and Babel.

Portsmouth is a decent side, though they certainly rely on their athletic ability more than skill. So when they come up against an opponent that is equal in strength and pace, but superior in prowess, they've little chance. Benjani's goal certainly rattled us, but they were unable to take advantage and once we regained composure, it was game over. In fact, the confidence they gained from getting on the scoreboard probably cost them more in the end. They started playing further forward and that cost them the Mascherano to Babel to Torres goal, that essential ended the match.

I really don't have much else to add without getting into individual efforts. Torres makes everything look so easy and with 14 goals in 20 all-contest matches, he's got to be considered one of the best forwards, if not players, in the world. The first goal was far from easy and it goes without saying about the second. He is simply brilliant, and honestly, there's room for improvement. A scary thought to say the least. He and Mascherano are the prime candidates for Man of the Match, but I'll decide my pick when I do player grades later. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Portsmouth: All the cards...

And the envelope reads...

Reina
Riise
Carragher
Hyypiä
Arbeloa
Kewell
Mascherano
Gerrard
Benayoun
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Babel
Voronin
Aurelio
Lucas

I hope Xabi is okay. At the moment, I think this is our best side, so if we can't win today, we might as well just concentrate on Champions League.

Rick Parry has a huge head

Literally and figuratively.

Also, from the linked article, Rafa states about recruiting promising youngsters from around the world, especially Spain: "They are 16 to 18 but I'm sure that in two or three years most of them will be ready for the first team. That means saving big money."

He's not going anywhere for a long time.

Early bird transfer speculation worms (pt 4): Sulley Muntari, Steven Taylor, Boubacar Sanogo, Nihat, & Nikola Žigić

I was going to use this part to talk of players that I think should and/or will be sold, but I've decided to do one more installment of possible acquisitions. Some have been rumored, while others I've just thrown in there just in case, you know, Rafa is reading.

Sulley Muntari, CM, Portsmouth - Supposedly a replacement for Mascherano if we fail to sign the Argentine on a permanent. It makes absolute no sense to pay a rumored £15m for the 23-year-old Ghanaian, when for £2m more we can retain Masche. Both Harry Redknapp and Rafa have rubbished such rumblings, so I'm assuming it's highly ulikely. Masche is the superior player anyhow, though Muntari is very talented and has appeared to mature past the temperament displayed in Italy.

Steven Taylor, CB/LB, Newcastle - Saying I'm not sold on the soon-to-be 22-year-old is an understatement to say the least. I have to admit though, the only times I've actually seen him play was against us. Apparently we were pursuing him in the summer, before Sam Allardyce told us to piss off. I'm not sure what the situation is now and I'm also not sure if we either need or want him. He was in a tiff with Allardyce, but apparently that's been resolved. I just don't believe he'll want to come here and be a scarcely used squad player for a couple of years before getting 'regular' time. Unlikely.

Boubacar Sanogo, FW, Werder Bremen - This is speculation at it's worst since Sanogo has not been linked with our club whatsoever, but I think he's a good player, so I thought I'd include him. The Côte d'Ivoire forward would provide us with muscle in the Heskey fashion and his poacher radar is finely tuned. He's also very athletically and somewhat, if not raw, skilled. He would also come on the cheap at around £4m, though I'm not sure Werder would sell him. He is somewhat inconsistent as well, though with Gerrard and Torres being just the opposite, maybe a player of the goals-in-bunches persuasion would be good for our side. Unlikely anyhow. Here's a compilation of him while he was with Kaiserslautern.


Nihat, FW, Villareal - Nihat Kahveci is a goal-scoring machine. The Turk has scored 169 league goals in 282 matches in the Turkish Super League and La Liga. He has scored 19 in 25 league matches for Villareal so far and 57 in 115 appearances for Real Sociedad, when he was there. The thing is, a lot of his goals are wholly unimpressive, yet deceiving as well. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, a poacher extraordinairre, and his finishing is impeccable. I like him a lot, but he is 28, and he did join El Submarino Amarillo on a Bosman, plus I'm unsure they'd be willing to sell nor he'd want to come. Anyhow, if so, more than £6m would be mental. Unlikely.


Nikola Žigić, FW, Valencia CF - Apparently Žigić, who just joined Los Che this past summer, is on his way out with Koeman's housecleaning project at the club. He's tall at 2.02 meters, but has struggled to maintain the same scoring rate in Spain as he did in Serbia. Honestly, he'd be more expensive at around £10m than Nihat or Sanogo, and really hasn't proven to be much better than those two, so if we are in need of striker in January, he'd be pretty far down the list. Somewhat likely.


Next up should be the chopping list. Cheers.

Liverpool vs Portsmouth: What Rafa wants, Rafa does, Rafa bless us all

Whatever happened with the Harry Redknapp arrest incident? Oh, nothing? I'm shocked.

Anyhow, the big question for this tie is whether or not Gerrard will be fit. Now I'm not accusing our skipper and Rafa collaborating on a Man U-like scam, but it certainly was a convenient and opportune time to come down with the stomach flu. That would actually be blasphemous, Stevie-G would have played at Stamford Bridge, vomit and all, if the team would have allowed him. Apparently Torres fell ill as well, but it looks as if both will be available for tomorrow.

The other first-teamers who didn't make the match at Fulham, Pepe Reina, Sami Hyppiä, John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell, Javier Mascherano, and Steve Finnan, should be fit and ready to roll.

I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow's match. It's not that I don't think we can win, it just won't be very entertaining. Portsmouth won't allow it. If they get into an up-and-down match with us, it's over. If we can get a goal early on and force them to play us instead of sitting back, there's a chance that I won't feel as if I've wasted a couple of hours of my life.

Saying this is a must-win, is like saying that people bleed when stabbed. Anything less than three points and I think our league hopes are lost. Come on, boys.

Here's my guess at the squad:
Reina
Riise
Carra
Hyppiä
Finnan
Kewell
Gerrard (or Xabi)
Mascherano
Benayoun
Kuyt
Torres (or Babel?)

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Aurelio
Xabi (or Sissoko or Gerrard)
Babel (or Torres)

I'm guessing Rafa took Xabi and Babel off early at Stamford Bridge so they'd be somewhat fresh come tomorrow. I really hope Gerrard and Torres start or are at least available. Either way, no excuses.

Sizing-up the Nerazzurri

It could have been much worse. We could have drawn Real Madrid or even A.C. Milan. It's not that I don't think we could beat those sides, it just would have been a more difficult task. Real is the deepest squad on the planet and from the looks of things, Milan doesn't have much else to play for, being essentially out of the Scudetto race already.

I personally think Inter is the most overrated club in Europe right now. Serie A is relatively weak this season, mostly due to the fall of Milan. When Udinese is the fourth place side, 16 games into the season while scoring only 20 goals, your league is fragile.

What worries me most is the second/away leg. It's set for March 11th, three days after Newcastle come to Anfield. I don't know why they didn't just schedule it for the 12th. Inter has a match two days prior, but that will probably be rescheduled now, though I doubt we'll get such accommodations.

I also can't wait to hear the rubbish that the Italian press will spew about our fans coming to Milan. I'm sure it will be flattering. The Italians have some of the most violent fans in the world, the English pale in comparison, but the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil policy is in full effect. Riots, stabbings, the killing of policeman, our fans are the ones that should be worried, granted most of it occurs in the Rome area and down south.

As for the actual matches, I see rather drab affairs. I expect them to slow things down as much as possible in both ties, especially at Anfield. Cruz and Zlatan don't worry me much, so we shouldn't have much trouble preventing them from scoring. The problem is, it's not going to be easy for us to net either. Certainly the magic of Torres and Gerrard would come in handy, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 0-0 results at the end of both matches, going to penalty kicks. Get studying, Pepe.

One more thing, I would love to see Mascherano take out Materazzi, especially if he starts with his cheating tactics. He's just horrible for the sport in general. Cheers.

Liverpool 0, Chelsea 2: player ratings

I've decided to revamp my ratings system for a number of reasons. Before I was rating players individually, as in how well they played compared to how well I've seen them play. The problem with that is I feel that it doesn't really show the proper value of a player's performance in relation to the whole side. That's about the only way I can explain it, I hope that's understandable. The scale pretty much remains the same though.

1 - Take off the f*%kin' kit
2 - Still not fit to where it
3 - It better have been just a poor day
4 - Drink too much last night, did we?
5 - Glad you showed up
6 - Good effort, but you could do better
7 - Solid performance
8 - Brilliant at times, adequate at others
9 - Top man
10 - Unbelievably f&*kin' brilliant

Charles Itandje 7.5
Would have been Man of the Match if it weren't for him letting Shevchenko's shot get past him. This was his most impressive outing so far and he seems to get better each time. I'm pretty confident now that he can step in for Reina in any competition if needs be. The diving save on Essien was simply brilliant.

Fabio Aurelio 6
I really liked how the Brazilian stepped up in the latter part of the match, getting more involved on the attack. He was probably under orders not to leave our side of the pitch for most of the match, so I can't really hold it against him. His defending was adequate.

Jamie Carragher 8.5 Man of the Match
An inspiring performance from Carra, one of his best of the year, was simply everywhere on defense. Got a bit unlucky with the Lampard goal though. I hope he didn't expend himself to the point where he'll still be fatigued come Saturday though.

Jack Hobbs 4.5
I don't mean to slag off on the kid, but he seemed like pre-Bolton Hobbs out there, lost at times and unsure at others. He's still only 19 though and hopefully he'll be able to grow on such an experience.

Alvaro Arbeloa 6.5
Was a lot less involved on attack than I would have liked, but like Aurelio, I think that was part of Rafa's precautionary measures. Other than that, there isn't much to complain about. The ref did him no favors throughout.

Momo Sissoko 6
Pretty much the performance I've come to expect from Momo. Was pestering to Chelsea through out, put offered little else. I'm actually working on a post about Sissoko, as I feel he's gotten a bum wrap, but I won't miss him too much when he leaves.

Lucas 7
Like Arbeloa, though more harsh, the ref did the Brazilian absolutely no favors. He should have netted, but made the wrong choice in going to the left against Cech. I hope he gets to play when we visit Stamford Bridge later in the season, because I have a feeling he's got unfinished business there.

Xabi Alonso 5
I'm gonna write this one off as an injury return run off. He was pretty off his game throughout. We really need him to find his head and quick if we're going to have a chance to win anything this season.

Nabil El Zhar 5.5
I think this was a good litmus test to see if the Moroccan is good enough to play for our club. I'm gonna have to say no. He just doesn't have the pace and failed to show the ability to compete at such a level, if he does indeed possess it to begin with.

Andriy Voronin 6
I almost think that Voronin was insulted to be out there, he certainly played like it. His age is definitely beginning to show and not in a good way. He really needs to start relying more on his cunning and less on his ability if he's going to have any contribution to our side.

Peter Crouch 3.5
Pretty much rubbish. When a player gets sent off and your side appears to play better once he does, that's not a good sign. It was especially disappointing since Aurelio was there to provide long balls. I will give him this though, a couple of times he made some good 'set-up' plays that his teammates failed to read.

Ryan Babel 7
Impressive and continues to improve. The only thing is he holds on to the ball for too long at times and instead of leading to a positive, it usually results in a turnover. Still, he's here to stay for a long, long time, and I'm thankful for it.

Yossi Benayoun N/A
Didn't really play that long, so there's no need. Cheers.

Early bird transfer speculation worms (pt 3): Vicente, Mancini, Kenwyne Jones, Tomáš Ujfaluši, & Angulo

Left-wing is a position we are going to have to address in the very near future. I don't know how many years King Harry has left in him, but I'm gonna guess about two and he'll become more and more of a squad player as his time comes to a close. We have Ryan Babel to play over there, but in truth, he's more of a straight attacker than a proper winger. I actually consider Riise more of a left-wing than Babel, but he's mainly a defensive option there and it looks like the Norwegian Ginger may be on his way out next month. I've already mentioned Jérôme Rothen and Francesco Modesto as potential transfers, but there's also a couple of more out there to scoop.

Vicente, LW, Valencia - I have to admit I was a bit shocked to see that Vicente could be available in the January window. If there is even the slightest chance we could acquire him, it has to be done. Would he even want to come to Liverpool is a question that I know not the answer, but as with a lot of Los Che players, they have played and flourished under Rafa Benitez, so I have to believe he has a leg-up on most of them. He'll be 27 next July, so he still has plenty of football left in him, but what will he cost? Three years ago he was linked to Man United for £13m, so I really can't see us paying more than £15m for him. Rarely do I get excited about a player, neither Torres (which I was wrong, btw) nor Babel (ditto) did much for me, but Vicente is a special player who can make us an unbelievably class side. His recent injury-ladened seasons do worry me though. Somewhat likely.


Mancini, LW, AS Roma - It's sort of redundant to say that Mancini is talented, but his problem is his ego. He knows how good he is and a lot of the time it gets in the way of his performances on the pitch. I honestly don't think he's got the emotional stability to be in a side under Rafa. The constant rotation might have too much of a negative effect on him. That leads me to question if we're still pursuing him, he's probably no longer the top choice at the left. If the rumors are true, I believe that goes to Vicente. I'm think his valuation is somewhere in the ballpark of £16m. Somewhat likely.


Kenwyne Jones, FW, Sunderland - When I think of Kenwyne Jones, I think a younger, faster Emile Heskey. Is he as skilled? Well, he's definitely more athletic, but I'm still not sold on his footballing abilities. I honestly don't want him on our side, even though his strength would probably came in handy in the Premiership, but would be a detriment in Europe. Ultimately, I just don't think he's good enough for a side desiring to become a Premiership contender, plus it would take an exorbitantly unnecessary amount of money to pry him from Roy Keane's hands. Not likely.


Tomáš Ujfaluši, CB/FB, Fiorentina - Ujfaluši could have joined us in the summer, but I believe he rejected the deal, so I'm unsure why these rumors are starting up again. His contract is up at the end of the season and I'm guessing that he expected to receive an extension offer. Apparently either he hasn't or it was insufficient. He's 29-years-old and seems pretty versatile on the backline, so I can't really say he'd be a bad signing, but I have to believe he's closer to the bottom of our list, especially if we can sign Garay. He would be relatively inexpensive though, I'm thinking some where in the neighborhood of £3m. Somewhat likely.

Angulo, RB/RW/CM/LW/FW, Valencia - I would be happier than Charles Bukowski at an open-bar boxing match if we could just pillage the Valencia side for all of Ronald Koeman's 'undesirables' and Angulo is without a doubt, no exception. His versatility and experience alone would be priceless to our side, not to mention he's a pretty damn good player as well. For his valuation, certainly the fact that he's 30-years-old would have to be taken into consideration, but even £6m would be a fair price in my book. Somewhat likely. Nothing like a little Tupac & Bruce Hornsby to conclude a post:

I believe the next part of this series will be who I think should be sold and why. Cheers.

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.

Liverpool 0, Chelsea 2: Stat of the match

Just to prove my point about my post game recap, FC Fulham (you do know that Stamford Bridge is actually in Fulham, don't you?) not only fielded an older, more experienced side. They also fielded a much more expensive one, in fact, a £87m more expensive one. Plus Graeme Le Saux. I went ahead and did the math since I realize Chelsea fans struggle with values. They do think Carling Cup = Champions League Trophy, after all.

They better watch out though. If Mickey Mouse finds out they're bullying younger, less experienced sides, Disney might rescind their deal. It just doesn't look good for their image to be sponsoring a side that appears to literally try to steal 'empty' calorie candy from children. Once again, our side deserves recognition for holding Goofy & friends to just two goals. Cheers.

Here's the breakdown:
Petr Čech £7m
Wayne Bridge £7m + Graeme Le Saux
Ricardo Carvalho £19.85m
Tal Ben Haim Free
Juliano Belletti £3.7m
Frank Lampard £11m
Mikel John Obi £16m
Michael Essien £24.4m
Andriy Shevchenko £30m
Scott Sinclair £160,000
Salomon Kalou £12m
Michael Ballack Free
Steve Sidwell Free
Joe Cole £6.6m
Total £137.71m + Graeme Le Saux

Charles Itandje £2.75m
Fabio Aurelio Free
Jack Hobbs £150,000
Jamie Carragher Academy*
Alvaro Arbeloa £2.5m
Xabi Alonso £10.7m
Momo Sissoko £5.6m
Lucas Leiva £5m
Andriy Voronin Free
Peter Crouch £7m
Ryan Babel £11.5m
Yossi Benayoun £5m
Nabil El Zhar £200,000
Total £50.4m

* That's pronounced a·cad·e·my /əˈkædəmi/ [uh-kad-uh-mee] just in case you Chelsea fans are unsure.