BREAKING NEWS: Torres Injured

Well this certainly isn't good. According to multiple reports, Fernando Torres tore a small muscle in his right leg during training for Spain today and is expected to be out eight to ten days. I would assume that rules him out of the Everton clash. Hopefully it's not more severe than thought. Click on the links to read more, but that's pretty much the gist of it. Cheers.

FoxSoccer loves Liverpool

Well, at least so far they do. FSC has released it's November Premiership schedule and it looks as if our boys will be on live the first two weekends (making it three in a row, I might add). Not sure about the fourth weekend since it's clearly a typo. We don't play Fulham the last weekend though, we play Newcastle at St. James. Anyhow here's how it breaks down.

Sunday, October 28th
Liverpool vs Arsenal 12pm

Saturday, November 3rd
Liverpool at Blackburn 1pm

Saturday, November 10th
Liverpool vs Fulham 12pm

There's an international break on the 17th and we'll just have to see about that last weekend. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Kewell nears return, Reserves draw at United, Stevie-G expected to captain England, & more

- Well, coming from the official site certainly makes it sound more... official. Though he may not be back in time for the derby, it looks like Harry Kewell could return sometime in mid-November. According to Rafa, he could start training with the first team as early as next week. I hope he comes back and stays healthy, surely one more episode of injury will be his last with us.

- It sounds as if even the Man U Reserves get the calls. According to this report, Lucas Leiva was clearly tripped up in the box in our boys' 1-1 draw at Man U, yet was booked for diving. I didn't get to see the match, but it sounds as if we were unlucky not to win and were thoroughly dominating. Our inability to finish also seems to have had a trickle-down effect.

- With John Terry out due to injury, it looks as if Steven Gerrard will get the nod to captain England in their Wembley match with Estonia tomorrow. I guess that means he'll get to start over Lampard. Wow, two shocking revelations in one small segment. Hopefully Steve McClaren will stick with Gareth Barry as Stevie-G's central midfield partner as well.

- Steve Finnan, despite frequently sharing time with Arbeloa at right back, is the latest player to come out in support of Rafa's rotation policy. He believes in it, true fans don't bother questioning it, so who exactly is making a ruckus over it? People who have won more accolades then Rafa, of course.

- Fernando Torres has decided to stop diving. Not sure when he began. I can't once think of a time in a Liverpool kit when I can accuse him of the act. One thing I find amusing is that he says Steven Gerrard was one of the main catalysts in getting him to not even think about cheating in such a manner. I may love Liverpool and our Captain, but he's definitely done so for club and country in the past. So far this year though, he has yet to resort to such techniques.

- I posted a link to the Fernando Torres Story pt. 1 the other day, so here's part 2. Cheers.

Transfer target of the day: Fernando Amorebieta

Even with three months until the January transfer window opens, the rumors are starting to sprout. Today we have Fernando Amorebieta, a 22-year-old Venezuela-born, Spain eligible player, who currently wears the Athletic Bilbao kit. For some reason, he's ineligible to play for Venezuela though.

He stands six-foot-three, is somewhat highly-rated, and though his primary position is centre back, he has also started at left-back. Sounds like a good fit and probably will be inexpensive. Unfortunately the only video I could find of him is an own goal so I won't bother.

Styles, Xabi catch breaks, Liverpool sorta screwed

Both Rob Styles and Xabi Alonso received favorable decisions in regards to their recent qualms.

The Football Association has announced that Styles will not receive any further punishment for doing a Graham Poll and giving Michael Essien two yellow cards in the Liverpool-Chelsea match earlier this season. Uh, looks like he gave him two yellows to me.

Meanwhile, Xabi had a game knocked off of his three game suspension which makes him eligible for his country's Euro-qualifying match in Madrid against Sweden on November 17th. Great, one more player on international duty to worry about.

Today's Banter: Rafa waiting Mascherano game, Swansea wants Anderson permanently, City to make Crouch offer, & more

- One of the bigger mysteries at Liverpool, outside of the enigma that is Harry Kewell, is Javier Mascherano's contract situation. The good news is that the Argentine wants to stick around, the bad news is that it will cost us an additional £17m to keep him. With other needs to fill in January, I'm not sure we'll have the funds to make the acquisition then, but I think if we wait until his current on-loan contract runs out his price may go up. I don't think we need Masche, but he certainly makes things a lot easier for us. Rafa is at least willing to wait and see what FIFA rules about third-party player ownership since Mascherano is still technically owned by Kia Joorabchian’s company, Media Sports Investment (MSI). I think that's a good idea, but let's just hope that happens before the January transfer window closes.

- Paul Anderson has made such a splash at Swansea City, that the Swans want to keep him permanently. I personally hope Rafa has future plans for the 19-year-old winger at our club, but I can definitely see him being loaned out again next season and if Swansea gets promoted to the Championship, I don't see why that wouldn't be one of the options. I don't see him joining anything less than a Championship side with maybe a SPL club in consideration. His contract runs through 2010.

- Sven and Man City look to be early suitors for disgruntled striker Peter Crouch. The problem is they are only willing to pay £8m for him. I can't see us taking less than £10m. The reason being is that he'll be a fresh addition to any side thanks to Rafa's rotation policy. If Sven can't get ole Thaksin to cough up an extra £2m, I'm sure Redknapp Casino FC aka Portsmouth can.

- Remember Rob Styles? The man who gave Chelsea a point at Anfield with a rubbish call. Well, it turns out he could get an additional ban for the same match, though this time for his showing of two yellows to Michael Essien. Not sure why the FA has waited this long to try him again, but it sounds awfully fishy to me. Maybe he's had a fallen out with the good ole boys in the FA.

Who is Bernard Mendy? (video)

Another player Rafa is reportedly looking at is Paris St. Germain right wing-back Bernard Mendy. The 26-year-old scarcely called-up French international has some stunning pace and athletic ability. Here's him making Roberto Carlos look stupid, which would have been more impressive 10 years ago.


And here's an impressive goal against AEK Athens.

But splendide de Bernard mendy (aek-psg)
Uploaded by CormegaParisii

We could definitely use him and reports are that he's rated at just £3m.

Who is Jérémy Menez? (video)

Here's a video of the 20-year-old French striker/attacking midfielder who plays for Monaco that we're supposedly looking to sign in the January window. (mind the music)

Today's Banter: Torres injury, Kuyt injury, Rafa worries, & more

- Apparently Fernando Torres sat out training today for Spain and is a doubt for his country's match with Denmark on Saturday. The 23-year-old striker is said to have a left ankle 'knock'.

- Dirk Kuyt has officially pulled out of the Netherlands' two upcoming Euro-qualifiers against Romania and Slovenia due to hamstring issues. It is unclear when he will be able to return, but he has returned to Liverpool to receive treament.

- Rafa is worried that the timing of the international break could further hurt our side. The last time we had such a break, we were at the top of the table, coming off our two best scoring displays. I honestly think that a little change in atmosphere of some players might do them well. Let's just hope they all come back injury free.

A couple of more links:
- We are keeping an eye on a French starlet named Menez
- The Fernando Torres Story pt. 1

Is Afonso Alves the answer?

With Peter Crouch's whining arse hopefully on it's way out, Brazilian striker Afonso Alves has been the first name to surface as his replacement come January. You may recall his recent seven goal performance for Dutch side Heerenveen versus Heracles Almelo last Saturday. Though a somewhat impressive feat unless you're playing American Samoa, I am always wary of a player being over-hyped after such a performance.

The only thing I will say about Alves is that he was more deserving of the Golden Boot last year than Totti. I realize that the Eredivisie is not as strong a league as Serie A, but a lot of the AS Roma forward's goals came against lesser opponents while Alves should little disparity in scoring against teams no matter their place on the table. Also Totti got more help from his more formidable side.

With that said, I've never been that impressed with the Brazilian, but I have never really watched that much of him to make a confident assessment as to whether or not he would be the right fit. With our current issues of scoring inefficacy, maybe we need a player that may be lacking flair but has that Ruud Van Nistelrooy sense of netting yawners. Of course ultimately it may come down to availability and price anyhow and I don't see us overpaying for him just to pry Heerenveen's grasp loose.

Anyhow, here's the highlights of his seven goal match:

Harry Kewell could return for derby

Well, the vagueness of this article has me rolling my eyes, but apparently the Aussie could be back for our October 20th date at Goodison Park. That would be quite a boost if it's the case.

There's also a chance that Xabi could return for that match as well. I don't think we need either player nor Agger to win at Everton and especially don't want Rafa to rush anyone, which he rarely does anyhow. It's always nice to have a full squad though, particularly when the three players set to return are of that class.

By the way, the Reserves play Man U away on Thursday. I'll be interested to see who's included in that squad. Certainly Leto and Lucas will make their returns to the side and it would be great to see Kewell get a running out, but I won't hold my breathe.

Paul Anderson is a scoring machine

Yep, you guessed it, our 19-year-old on-loan winger at Swansea has found the back of the net again. It's the third straight match he has done so and his sixth goal this year in all competitions. This time he netted in a League Trophy match versus Wycombe as the Swans advanced with a 2-0 result. I'm beginning to think he's a little too good for League One.

Liverpool 2, Tottenham 2: the 'game-winner'?

Well, before I get to the actual match, once again Fox Soccer makes themselves look like a bunch of donkeys. Apparently Torres' extra-time header was the 'game-winner'. I wish, but at least it gave me a little chuckle, something I need after that pathetic display.

I don't know where to start. Our whole side played pretty poor and the worse part is if we hadn't been distracted by the stadium intercom announcer, (btw, what was that about?) we would have probably won.

Who played well? No one. Well, maybe Stevie Finnan, but that's it. It was a poor display all-round. Now teams know how to beat us, just keep trying the long ball.

I feel sorry for Reina, without Agger we look pretty pathetic at the back. We need the Dane back as soon as possible and Rafa needs to buy the best centre back as possible in the January transfer window.

Anyhow, I'm pretty disgusted by the whole affair and don't really want to get into it, but our ball movement is shoddy at best. We don't look like a team out there at all. There's no flow whatsoever, it's very disheartening. Maybe it's time Rafa brings in some kids, at least then we have an excuse for being poor.

Liverpool 2, Tottenham 2: the goals

Voronin's put-back.


Torres' 'game-winner'. ha.

Liverpool vs Tottenham: the line-up

And the envelop reads...

Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Riise
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Kuyt
Benayoun
Babel
Lucas

Still no Babel starting and Lucas on the bench. Interesting. As long as there's no Crouch.