Borrowed money buys Mascherano

With all the recent upheavals in our club, I was beginning to doubt we'd be making any significant signings until a new manager was appointed. Fortunately that hasn't been the case as we look to have secured a winner in Skrtel and now in particular the long drawn out saga of trying to sign Mascherano has finnally come to an end and he has put pen to a 4 year contract :-)
While we won't be seeing Hicks or Gillet using their own cash, hopefully they'll borrow some more money to give us a more complete squad in the summer. I feel we've definitely got the right quality in both central midfield & defence, but alas we're still in need of wingers, wingbacks and another striker.

What happens if you bitch slap Mascher ?

One of the highlights of the game against Middlesbrough (other than Torres awesome hat trick), has got to be when Mascherano patronizingly squeezes Aliadieres cheeks in a somewhat playful (I assume) manner and in return he gets himself bitch slapped but puts on his most innocent face (priceless) for the referree who then sent off Aliadiere.
Middlesbrough say they spent 2 days deciding whether to appeal the sending off, which just goes to show they were chancing their arm, and are now fuming after their frivolous appeal to the FA resulted in an increase of his match ban to 4 games. Mascherano was being cheeky, Aliadiere was being stupid swinging his arm (everyone knows that's classed as violent misconduct), get over it.

No arrogant demands, just loyalty & desire

Sami Hyypia, one of LFCs all time greats has announced his desire to take his career with us into his 10th season. Despite the fact that he'll be competing with Carragher, Agger & Skrtel for a playing spot he is prepared to fight for his position. He's a true pro and we can count on him to not moan about playing every week and also to put in the effort when required. If only all our players possessed such a mentality, far too many seem to think they have a devine right to play.
Some people might prefer that a youth player get the 4th central defender spot, but given the lack of playing time they would be exposed to, that same player might be better off going on a season long loan. As for Hyypia, he's been outstanding for us over the years and thoroughly deserves a new contract, even if only for another season and then give him a well deserved testimonial.

Agger & Skrtel are on their way back

Carragher is suspended for tomorrows game with Middlesbrough, which makes you wonder who can partner Hyypia, fortunately things have been progressing very nicely for Agger & Skrtel.
The one player I feel we've missed the most this season is Agger, who has been having recurring problems with his metatarsal injury. According to The Guardian Agger went to see a specialist in Norway yesterday who gave him the green light to start playing again, but given the length of his layoff I'd be surprised if Rafa rushes him back in to play this weekend.
Which leaves us with Skrtel (this guy has legend material written all over him) who was ruled out for 10 days with a calf injury, well those 10 days have passed uneventfully, so it's more likely we'll be seeing him in action this weekend.

If only Rafa could do this all the time

Watching us play against Inter Milan, I can't remember the last time the whole team looked so hungry. It's quite sad comparing our performances in the big European games with our Premiership efforts. If only Rafa could motivate the lads to play like that on a consistent basis we could be genuine title contenders.
As for the players, Mascherano was as monstrous as ever, Lucas did very well on his champions league debut. Kuyt was his typical busy self, was shocked when he scored, I hope it helps with his confidence so we see more of it. Torres came close to scoring a brace and Gerrard deserved his goal.
With Materazzi & Cordoba out of the second leg, it should make it easier for us to nick a goal and seal our passage to the next round. As it stands it's merely half time and I don't want to get carried away just yet.

No emotion - just plain and simple facts

We're given a scare by part-timers, struggle against the likes of Luton Town and get dumped out of the FA Cup by Barnsley. Couple this with a real challenge to finish fourth, likely finishing 20 odd points from the top in the process (again). The players for the most part repeatedly put in poor performances, probably due to a combination of bizarre substitutions, team selections, tactics & managerial motivation (or lack thereof).
Rafa gave us one of the best nights ever when we won in Istanbul, put in a credible title challenge & won the FA Cup the following season, made it to the final of the Champions League again after that, but our league form has badly dropped the last couple of seasons. He's also revitalised our youth teams but it'll be another couple of years before we can reap any benefits from that.
I'll refrain from commenting on our 'custodians' simply because I can't honestly think of anything positive to say. But where to now for our beloved club ?

Interesting developments on injury front

Skrtel picked up a calf injury in training, which leaves room for Mikel San Jose to make his debut for Liverpool. He looks a tidy defender (in reserves) but needs to bulk up a little, with Hyypia & Aurelio only just back training (Agger is still out) and Hobbs on loan, I don't see that we have any other options than San Jose for the game against Barnsley.
Thankfully Hyypia should be ready for the game against Inter Milan. Torres is also back in training (hope he's not risked against Barnsley) and having him up front again is vital for us as Rafa seems reluctant to pair Babel & Crouchie and Kuyt continues to fire blanks.

Positives to take from game with Chelski

Skrtel put in a very impressive performance (shame about his wrist though) and the experience will do him the world of good. I can only assume Hyypia is injured as Mikel San Jose was our only central defender on the bench.
Mascherano was a monster breaking up the play all over the pitch, thankfully we're almost certain to be retaining his services permanently. Lucas continues to impress with his composure and also produced some superb passes.
Babel had a rare start and showed some real class, can't believe he got subbed, would've made more sense for Kuyt to come off. Our lack of pace up front was glaringly obvious, I'd a bad feeling before the game that Rafa wouldn't take a chance and pair Crouch & Babel, and I can't help but feel that cost us 3 points as Chelski were there for the taking today.

Globalisation of football is coming to town

I'm quite surprised by a proposal which has been agreed in principle by the 20 Premier League clubs to add an extra game to the league season but this would be played in cities around the world (read: Asia & America) who would bid for the opportunity to stage the games (5 locations per season).
Football is big business and the market has become saturated in the UK so it makes sense to expand in to developing markets (there's literally hundreds of millions of supporters outside of England). So by staging some of the matches 'abroad' it's likely to generate phenomenal income for Premiership clubs.
Whilst talks are still in the exploratory stages I imagine it's inevitable that it will come to fruition and I find the whole prospect really exciting :-)

Hamstring injury for Torres could hurt us

As if we didn't have enough problems already, now it looks just that little bit worse. Torres lasted all of 23 minutes for Spain with what appears to be an injury to his right hamstring (damn I hate international friendlies).
If it gets confirmed tomorrow that thats the case then we could be in for some trying times. We've got a tough game with Chelsea at the weekend but of far more importance is our game with Inter Milan next week.
I fear this means we'll see Kuyt back, when what I'd much rather Rafa go with Crouch & Babel up front. We've got a real fight on our hands to finish 4th and the Champions League is something I don't want us getting knocked out of anytime soon. So fingers crossed Torres is ok or that Rafa will take a chance with a pairing of Crouchinho & Babel.

Is 'My Anfield' the best new soccer blog ?

Apparently I'm one of the candidates for "The Best New Blog 2007" category on Soccerlens.com. While this definitely won't result in any significant celebrity status for me (damn I won't have loads of women to fight off), if you're a regular reader and happen to like my blog feel free to vote for 'My Anfield'. Here's the link :-
http://soccerlens.com/the-best-new-blog-soccerlens-2007-awards/5626/
(although you might need to scroll down that webpage for the poll part)
If you're not a regular reader, why not start today and check out the various posts (labels/categories on the left hand side) or Live Calendar & League Table. As always I'm open to any suggestions you have for any changes to this site.

Where was Ian Rush all those years ago ?

As a wee kid in the 80s, Ian Rush was my favourite player for Liverpool (king kenny rocked but Rush is the one I tried to imitate on the playgrounds). I mention this only because I found myself trekking down memory lane today after I heard some very surprising news today that Rush has accepted a coaching role with the Malaysian national football team.
I don't mean that in a bad way, I've some very fond memories of living in Malaysia & Singapore for a year in the mid 80s, the only problem at the time though is that I couldn't watch my beloved Liverpool play :-(
It's a sign of the times now with the globalisation of football, that in both those countries Liverpool have such a huge following, in fact 16% of visitors to 'My Anfield' are from those countries, so welcome folks :-)

Simon Skrabb on trial with Liverpool FC

He already had a trial with us last August and his club Jaro have confirmed that he will be visiting Liverpool 2 or 3 times a year prior to a possible permanent transfer further down the road.
At just 13 years of age, the attacking midfielder is rated as yet another of Finlands most promising youngsters and if he turns out to be anywhere near as good as Lauri Dalla Valle (who was also bestowed with that tag when we signed him) then we could be in for a real treat further down the line :-)

Slovak in a half shell, Skrtel power

With Gerrard & Carragher out of action for a number of weeks due to this court case (LINK) Skrtel should find himself getting plenty more experience in the premiership. Like Agger I reckon it'll take him a few months to adjust to premiership life, but we could very well have something cool to look forward to next year. He's after beating out Marek Hamsik to the title of Slovakian footballer of the year, which should speak volumes given that Hamsik is one of the best left wingers in Serie A (in just his first season there!).
I've no idea who the anonymous person was who posted a suggested song for Skrtel in this post (LINK), but I reckon I'm going to get a fair bit of milleage out of it everytime I talk about Skrtel, cheers dude/dudette :-)

C'mon Rafa, let Crouchie play with Torres

I know we didn't play too well against Sunderland but I'm hoping it'll give the lads a much needed confidence boost ahead of our clash with Chelsea on Sunday. Hopefully Crouchie will have earned himself a run in the team after scoring one and setting up another goal but sadly I doubt it. It's hardly a motivational aide for Rafa to not reward the players who do perform.
Realistically we've got quite a tough fight on our hands to claim fourth spot as we still have to play the big 3 away from home. We need goals to win games and unfortunately Kuyt & Voronin don't appear to be up to the job. The best strike partnership we currently have is Torres & Crouchie and I hope Rafa can let them string some games together to see how they gel.

Another flawed genius who really cared

I was pleasantly surprised to see Momo Sissoko following in the footsteps of Luis Garcia and writing an open letter to fans which has been published on the official Liverpool FC website (LINK).
The similarities between the 2 extend even further. Sissoko like Garcia proved to be well worth his transfer fee and his positives definitely outweighed any negatives. Both players were capable of brilliance in their respective roles and yet frustratingly both could give the ball away so easily after impressing us.
In a world of seemingly mercenary footballers out for a big pay check it's refreshing to see that some really do care :-)

Doomed to failure - Share Liverpool FC

A somewhat unrealistic proposal to raise a billion odd dollars from about 100,000 Liverpool supporters, doesn't look like getting too far. The basic premise behind it is spot on, Liverpool supporters will be paying for the Yanks loans anyway (read: billion dollar debt once the stadium loan comes through in addition to their last one) so why not just buy them out instead.
Their website (http://www.shareliverpoolfc.co.uk) which is supposed to be acting as the focal point to check the feasibility of the project has already had it's account suspended, with a message advising to contact the billings department asap, if a couple of pounds can't be raised to get the website up and running, what hope is there for a billion dollars ? ;-)
[Edit 02/02/08 :- It's actually working now]

2 more youngsters fly the nest

On the final day of the transfer window, 2 more youngsters have left LFC. Besian Idrizaj who was hailed as a very promising talent when we signed him (Austrian Young Player of the Year) never really settled in Liverpool, he has returned to Austria to play with Wacker Tirol. As for 'home grown' Lee Peltier, the impressive defender has made his loan move with League One side Yeovil Town permanent.