Fernando Torres wedding a low key affair

Looking through my Google Analytics data, it's clear that thousands of people have been searching for details on when (and to who) Torres was going to get married. Unfortunately they always ended up at this older post.

So for the curious amongst you, it's now official that he has married his childhood sweetheart (Olalla - who is 7 months pregnant). Most footballers typically have huge lavish affairs for their weddings, but not our Torres, who had a very low key ceremony with just 2 guests present.

That's what I like about the guy, despite being a global superstar, off the pitch, he keeps his private life to himself. It makes for a refreshing change from other footballers. Anyways, congradulations to Fernando & Olalla.

Lauri Dalla Valle - profiled starlet

This Finnish starlet has had an impressive season, and was probably our best youth player. At just 17 he became the youngest player at Melwood, then he went on to score 20 goals in all competitions (8 in the Youth Cup).

It's not just his goal scoring feats which attract attention, but his overall awareness of what's happening around him. The midfielder/striker, can easily find space between defenders and also pick out his team mates with killer passes.

Although Dalla Valle is still very much developing, he comes across as one of the few youth players who has got a real chance of making the step up to the first team. Realistically it'll be another year or so before he's pressing for a first team place, but the raw potential is there for all to see.

Uphill battle for the youths tonight

Arsenals youth team ran riot last week and beat our youth team 4-1 in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final. Tonight marks the return leg of the final at Anfield Road. It might seem almost inconceivable that our youths can overcome that deficit, but there's a bit of symmetry at play here.

You see back in the good old days (80s), it seemed almost inconceivable that any side could come to Anfield and beat Liverpool 2-0. Sure enough Arsenal managed it and won the league in the process. Today is the 20th Anniversary.

There would be a certain sense of poetic justice if our youth players could do the unlikely and beat Arsenal to win the Youth Cup tonight. Also over the next month, we'll be taking a closer look at the most promising youth players in a new starlet series (starts this Thursday).

Alonso or Gerrard for player of the season

I'm sure everyone has their own ideas as to which player deserves to be named player of the season, and the official site has started a poll to see who the fans prefer. Despite some excellent performances from many of our players, it looks like being down to either Alonso or Gerrard.

Gerrard is probably the best player in the world at the moment, simply because there's just so much to his game. He did finish our top scorer this season, but like Torres was missing quite a fair bit due to injuries, yet this doesn't appear to have limited his chances in the poll.

Alonso is my personal favourite, simply because he responded so well to all that crap last summer, and produced his most brilliant and consistent season ever for us. The pass master is the one who pulled all the strings in midfield for us this season. Anyways, check out the poll and vote for your own favourite.

Testimonial for Sami Hyypia

Well the last game of what has been an exciting season is coming up this Sunday. After that the withdrawal symptoms will kick in. But enough of that and onto far more important concerns.

You see, this is also the last competitive game for Sami Hyypia, and considering the lack of an announcement regarding an official testimonial for him. We can take it as red that this doubles a psuedo testimonial match.

Hopefully our benevolent captain will relinguish his armband so Hyypia can once again lead the reds out for one last time at Anfield. No doubt the legendary Sami Hyypia will get an amazing reception from the Anfield faithful.

Pre-planned Rafa rant on a graph

There's an interesting post on "Some People Are On The Pitch", which shows a graphical representation (marking some notable events) of the title chase between Liverpool & Man Utd this season. Click here to view the post.

Looking at the graph you'll notice a wee period where Liverpool nearly flatline. Out of curiosity I decided to have a quick look back over that period. What transpired was a run of 7 league games, whereby we got 10 out of a possible 21 points (our worst period of the season).

This isn't one of those anti-Rafa rants, I just thought it an interesting coincidence, that Rafa's rant against Fergie, immediately preceeded that period. Hopefully next season the graph will look blip free for Liverpool.

Great progress has been made this season

Ok, so we didn't win any trophies this season. But it's not the end of the world, and looking back over this season, there's plenty to be thrilled about. In the recent past, we've had difficulties scoring goals, winning away from home, and beating the other members of the big four. That has all changed this season.

As a team we've been scoring goals for fun (even without Torres for most of the season) and remained solid at the back. Whatever mental blocks the players had away from Anfield, are well and truly gone. We did the double over both Chelski & Man Utd, and Arsenal were lucky to have drawn twice with us.

The lads have proven that they're credible title challengers and will have gained considerable confidence from all of this. Over the years, we've become accustomed to thinking that 'next year' will be our year, but this time it's different as the potential is genuinely there. 'Next year' really could be our year.

Probably the best stadium in the world

Realistically for the new stadium to be built (if ever, under Hicks & Gillet), it was always going to be a case of naming rights being sold to the highest bidder in order to secure some funding for it. Losing 'Anfield' seems inevitable, unless a sponsor were willing to share naming rights with our heritage.

Enter Carlsberg who have confirmed that the idea of Carlsberg sponsoring the new stadium will be part of discussions with LFC at the end of this season. Media reports indicate naming rights along the lines of 'Carlsberg Anfield' (which would be cool), but obviously nothing has been decided yet.

You should see some cool pictures of the new stadium by clicking here and also by clicking here.

Much kudos goes to Gerrard

It's weird to think that it's been so long since a Liverpool player last won the Footballer of the Year Award from the Football Writers' Association. Me thinks it was Barnes all the way back in 1990.

Although my own preference would have been for Xabi Alonso to win due to his consistently brilliant performances this season. I'm relieved that Gerrard won this award as he definitely deserved it above Giggs & Rooney.

New Liverpool Away Kit for 2009 / 2010

We've had some neat away kits in recent years, but this is definitely the coolest one yet.

Phantom black with gold colouring for the name and numbers, with some red piping.

The goalkeeper is a bit of alright, looks similar to our traditional yellow away kits.

They're expected to be launched on the 12th June.

Sammy is the perfect foil to Rafa

There's a neat article on the official LFC site in which Rafa acknowledges the impact which Sammy Lee has had on Liverpool's excellent season. He even describes him as being close to the perfect number 2.

While Rafa is definitely a tactical genius, it's never been much of a secret that Rafa has lacked certain people skills. With that in mind, the signing of Sammy last summer, has proven a shrewd piece of business.

Sammy is a great motivator who gets on brilliantly with the players and this makes for a happier dressing room which boosts player morale. Our excellent season is evidence of that. Now that we've got the right backroom staff, all we need is a couple more quality players this summer to complete our team.

Carragher's slip up, gives a bit of a laugh

The poor guy had a bit of a lapse in concentration and completely missed kicking the ball when trying to pass it. At first it wasn't humourous because West Ham stole the ball and looked like scoring.

That is until the plonker (Di Michele) made it all the way into the penalty area, only to literally fall over his own shadow. Replays of the incident clearly show there being no contact from Reina, yet that didn't stop the plonker from protesting the lack of a penalty being awarded.

Normally it really annoys me when players blatantly try to cheat but in this case, Di Michele didn't benefit and got himself booked. But the neat thing about hindsight is that I can now look back (after we won 3-0) and smile at Carraghers uncharacteristic slip up.

Victory for LFC and the other Mancs needed

West Ham and Manchester City are both currently chasing a spot in the new Europa League (revamped UEFA Cup). With only 3 games left and just 1 point separating the 2 teams, both teams should be well motivated.

Being derby weekend in Manchester, I hope it translates into City nicking some points from United, we're so screwed if they don't. But for West Ham, they also know they have to chase victory, which should hopefully make for plenty of opportunities for Liverpool to exploit.

Whatever happens this weekend, we're about to find out whether we still have any chance of winning the Premier League this season. Although tomorrow represents our toughest (and trickiest) remaining fixture, we should still win. Here's hoping City will do too.

The legendary Sami Hyypia is leaving Liverpool

It's a shame that Hyypia will be leaving LFC this summer after being with us for the past decade. He has been a true legend for us over the years, not to mention one of our most consistent and reliable performers.

He still has bags of ability and deserves to be playing regularly, but that would be a tough thing at LFC considering the quality of competition for places. Perhaps his new club Bayer Leverkusen can offer him that.

For all the medals he has won with us over the years, the one which has eluded him is the Premier League winners medal. Hopefully there's still some time for him to deservedly claim one. YNWA Sami.

Good news for Agger, Alonso & Mascherano

The weekend started off well enough with news that Agger had finally put pen to paper and extended his contract by 4 years. Wow, that was one hell of a protracted contract saga with months of rumours and inuendo. Whether there was a temporary falling out between Rafa & Agger doesn't matter anymore because we've secured his future at LFC.

The weekend then took a turn for the worse when both Mascherano (twisted ankle) & Alonso picked up injuries against Newcastle. In Alonso's case he suffered bad bruising and had to be stretchered off, thanks to that scumbag Barton with his two footed challenge. Fortunately both players should be back training in a matter of days.