Kaunas 1 Liverpool 3

A couple of thoughts after watching the last 2 CL qualifiers and the Olympiakos friendly match. Defence We need a CB quick!!! Our defense is horrible! We actually let Olympiakos scored 3 past us. And the defence against Kaunas was woeful. There were a few offsides wrongly given and many times Josemi played the opponents onside. We could have been embarrased if Kaunas have more prolific strikers. Gosh~ can someone show Josemi what a straight line is??? Sami Hyypia has truely past his prime. He looked dodgy at times, mistimed a few tackles and is very very slow to get back to position. I'm really very very worried about our defence. With Milito signing a new contract with Real, Upson happy to stay at Birmingham and Whitbread's lack of experience, we seem to be heading nowhere in getting a new CB to replace Hyypia. Carra is working very hard to hold the defence together and with 70+ matches to go, i seriously hope his stamina can last for the entire season. And Josemi...why is this man still in the team whereas Nunez is being sold to Celta?! Our right side looked so vulnerable last night. I pray Finnan's case can end quickly and we can have him back on the Right back. Midfield We have a sound midfield with Gerrard and Alonso in command. Zenden looked good and he pumps loads of crosses during the match. Sissoko... i'm beginning to love this guy! Thank god he did not end up as a bluenose! Now i understand why Rafa say he'll be the next Vieira. The most unbelievable thingy is he's only 20yrs old. We have indeed found a gem! Our right side looks very weak. Potter has improved no doubt but we truely need a better player there. Lets move on to look for another right winger instead of waiting for Luis- it's my dream to play for Liverpool- but my wife prefers Milan- oops i think i'll stay at Madrid - Figo? This man is a complete waste of Rafa's time! From what i see, i think he's just a money-grabber. Very disappointing. Strikeforce For once i change my mind about Milan Baros. He had certainly impressed me in the Olympiakos match. He is no longer a headless chicken! He acutally looked for Morientes and passed the ball to him! I don't want him to go to Aston Villa. With Morientes not performing, Cisse missing tonnes of opportunites and Crouch tightly marked in every game, i see Baros as our source of goals this season. And please don't include Anthony Le Tallac as one of our main striker... this man is a joke in front of goal. Unless we sign another goal scoring machine, i don't wish to see Baros being sold to any club!

What an irony!

I remembered last season, someone wrote in the .tv forum asking the newly arrived Rafa to sign Crouch. He was of course scorned by many other fans... ridicule and hurled abuses by whoever bothered to reply his post. A year later, we see Peter Crouch arrive at Anfield, chased relentlessly by our Master Tactician since the open of the transfer window. Honestly speaking, i'm throughly disappointed. We could have gone for someone better, more experience instead of this beanpole. But since he has signed and is officially a RED, i will give him my support and i hope he will make me EAT THE HUMBLE PIE in weeks to come!

TNS 0 Liverpool 3

Can someone pls assure me that we are only playing on first gear last night? We looked dreadful in front of goal for the whole eighty minutes until Captain Marvel scored. Cisse was not receiving good services from the midfield. He scored a beautiful first goal courtesy from a poor clearance by a TNS defender. He did some clever runs but the ball never seem to reach his feet. Le Tallac was amazingly awful. He had several scoring chances but somehow never manage to keep the ball down and they ended up blazing into the crowd. Not a single shot on target. Zenden did quite well down the left flank. He bended in a few wicked crosses but there was nobody to meet the crosses in the six yard box! I nearly fell asleep for that period after Cisse scored. We missed chances after chances and we nearly let TNS score the equalizer. It only took the woodwork and offside to deny TNS of an equalizer. Stevie G came on in the last 20 mins to replace Alonso and it took him only 1 min to save us from embarassment. 2 well taken shots by Gerrard saw TNS Hero GK Doherty beaten twice in a minute. Game ended 0-3 (0-6 agg) and we move on to meet Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. We were woeful in front of goal. Had the finishing being better, we would have beaten TNS by double figure over the two leg. Man Scum or Arse would have thrashed the hell out of the welsh champions. Hopefully with the arrival of Beanpole, we can have more clinical finishing. And with a few more weeks to go before the season officially starts, i hope the team can work harder to build some telepathy amongst themselves.

Bayern Lev 0 Liverpool 3

Comfortable 3nil win for us and Bayern Lev rarely troubled us behind. 2 different teams started in separate halves and its nice to watch the new players in action. 1st Half Carragher and Whitbread started as the CB pair. Finnan played as the RB while Warnock took the LB only to see him replaced by Traore barely 5min into the 1st half after a nasty collision. In the midfield, there was Hamann playing as the DM alongside Alonso. Riise took his position at LM while youngster Darren Potter was given a chance to try that RM position. Up front we see Cisse heading the strikeforce with Anthony Le Tallec playing just behind him. The game started slowly with both sides not creating many chances in front of goal in the early minutes. A nasty collision between Step Warnock and Freier saw both players being replaced early in the game. Warnock was sent to a hospital for x-rays as he fell heavily on his arm. Bayern Lev's player Freier suffered a broken nose and chin and is likely to undergo surgery. The game resumed which saw Liverpool gaining in tempo and possesion. We eventually controlled the game from then on. Whitbread had a good game. He did well to clear several high balls pumped to the opponent striker. There were times when he struggled to clear the balls, thats when Carragher stepped in to help him. Otherwise, he looked pretty comfortable throughout the first half. Nice to see Whitbread play well, i definately hope he can continue learning and break into the first team but at this moment he still lacks the PL experience. I think he still has alot to learn from his two CB seniors. Meanwhile, Darren Potter also looked good at RM. He made several good runs down the flanks but too bad his passing still has to improve. Alonso was genius once again. His passings were a joy to watch and he prised open the opponent's defence with every single pin-point crosses. Hamann held the midfield well and i'm more than happy to see him back in action. Riise made some intelligent runs down the left flank. I think he played well in both the LM and LB (2nd half) position but its all up the Rafa to determine where he'll play this season. Up front, Cisse looke very threatening with his speed and he's always taking on defenders. Le Tallac looked poor in the early mins. His passing was awful and he made some aimless run. But as time passes, he gain composure and his beautiful pass saw Cisse scoring the opening goal. Within a minute, Cisse scored the second goal thanks to another wonderful pass by Le Tallac. 0-2 the half time score and we made real good use of the flanks. 2nd Half Hyppia was brought on for Carra, Josemi for Whitbread, young Medjani for Finnan and Riise was moved to LB to replace Traore. Gerrard came on for Alonso, Zenden played LM, Garcia played RM and Sissoko came on for Hamann. Up front we see Baros leading the strikeforce with Morientes playing behind him 10mins into the 2nd half. Medjani imho did not look comfortable as a RB. He swooped position with Josemi halfway into the 2nd half and i think he looked more comfortable there. I generally feel that Josemi is too slow to play in the centreback position and pls Rafa, abandon any thoughts to place Josemi at CB. Luis garcia looked different with his haircut (pls garcia, dun perm your hair lol). He looked like he has gain some weight. And he did not lose possession as often now. Zenden looked like a shrewd signing. He has an eye for goal and great workrate. Many times he comes back to help the defence. And he uses the flanks and touchline brilliantly. His cheeky crosses across the goalmouth looks very useful. Sissoko aka the new Vieira held the midfield well. He looked impressive with some nice footwork and well-timed tackles. Although his skills especially ball control are still way off Vieira, i think he will become good in time to come. He's just like a newly unearthed gem, waiting to be polished. Good buy. Capt Stevie is still the same old capt stevie...working non-stop to keep the team going. But i still have mix feelings about his last min's decision to stay. I can only use 1 word to sum up the strikefore i.e. Disappointment. Although Baros worked hard and scored a goal, he still looked like a headless chicken running around. Morientes was so quiet you wonder if he's really on the field. He looked like a pale shadow of his former self and its very sad to see him like that. I want to see him score again. Lord, pls make this man the man he use to be. Overall a great match. But we sure need someone more reliable to take up that RM position. And for the umpteen time i say this again... WE NEED A NEW CB!!!

Owen... Yes? No?

Liverpool Echo reported today that MO is desperate to make a sensational return to Liverpool. Owen had not been able to break into Real Madrid's first team eversince his £8m move last summer. Although Owen did came on to score the winner for Madrid in several occasions, this is not enough to see him replace Raul and Ronaldo in the starting line-up. With Real Madrid looking highly likely to sign Robinho from Santos, Owen's chance to start a game for Madrid looked even more unlikely to happen. And he will still remain the fourth choice striker. If he still wants to play in the England jersey, he'll have to move in search of first team football. The best way out is to return to his own country, back to his beloved club where he used to score an average of 20goals/season.

Seriously, do you want Owen back? The man who went in pursuit of glories, leaving his club in lurch when they need him most?

I dunno. My head says yes but my heart says no. I don't want to see this glory-seeker cum traitor cum attention-seeker back in the club. I'll never forget how he walked out of us. I'll never forget how he played all of us out by saying he'll sign the contract only to see him sign for Real Madrid in the end. I'll never forget how Real Madrid made a fool out of us by paying us a miserable £8m and forcing us to take in Nunez.

But on the other hand, our strikeforce will improve greatly if he comes back. 20 goals/season is no problem for Owen because he is so familiar with the league and with our powerful midfield combination of Alonso and Gerrard, Owen will definately get better services. Honestly speaking, I rather see an experience Owen back than to pay £8m for one-season-wonder Crouch.

The RIGHT man

I've not watch the TNS match but according to reports, it seems that Cisse did a very good job down the right flank. After that match, there are some fans out there calling for Cisse to be played as the right winger. Are you serious? Playing a £14m french first team striker on the right flank?! A striker who ousted world class Trezeguet out of the first team? NO WAY! Ffs, we are only playing TNS, a minnow welsh team. I cant imagine Cisse getting pass any right-back from the top teams with his average dribbling skill. And i cant imagine anyone to score from his dreadful crosses as well. We need a natural Right winger. Luis Figo is the perfect solution. His dribbling skill and ball control looks good. Plus he is a dead ball specialist, the type of player we are desperately looking for... who will add width and experience to the team. Although he is not as fast and agile as he used to be, i still think he can cope with the PL. European games will definately not be a problem for him. And if reports in the papers and websites are true, i can see him joining us real soon. Maybe tomorrow...you'll never know.

Week's Round-up

Friendly Wrexham 3 Liverpool 4

Did not manage to catch the game because ESPN/Starsports preferred to show Snooker and Rugby instead. Cant be bothered signing on EST...anyway, heard it was not functioning well today. Managed to read some reports and fan's responses to the game thou. Seems like Zenden is a great buy! Linking well with Mori to score the equaliser for us. Mori looked sharp as he added a 2nd goal before half time.

Rafa field a totally different team in the 2nd half, fielding Josemi and Whitbread as CB. But the combination didn't work out well (i presume) as we leaked in 2 goals in the 2nd half. Good game although not a great result but guys, its just a friendly. The team has just trained for a week and is just starting to glue together. Fret not, this team is strong enough to get pass TNS even without the new signings.

Transfers

According to Sky Sports, we have signed Sissoko from Valencia for £5.5m. Sissoko is a versatile player and used to play under Rafa. He was also bought by Rafa from Auxerre to Valencia. Rafa rates this player highly indeed. And the best thing is we have STOLEN the player from the bluenose!!! Hahaha... I bet they must be fuming mad at this moment because no one wants to sign for them lol What do Parker, Bellamy, Forsell, Emre and Sissoko have in common? They all refuse to play for Bluenose! Hahaha... What a joke!

Rafa also stated in SSN's interview that he will be signing 2 - 3 more players. Great news! I hope we get Figo on a free and also a couple of CB to beef up the defence.

Contract Renewal

Hamann, Traore, Carra and Gerrard had all penned their new contracts respectively. Hamann signed a 1 yr contract while the rest signed a four years extension. So i guess Captain Marvel can concentrate on his game now and lead the team to more trophies this season. And the greatest news of all is WE ARE NOT GETTING PETER CROUCH!!! Yahoo~

Benitez agrees terms for Figo

According to Liverpool Echo, Rafa has agreed to sign Luis Figo and besides that, we are also getting Southampton's Peter Crouch and Valencia's Mohammed Sissoko. *Two shocking news in 1 reliable article* The first is we'll have to pay Real Madrid £2m to engage Figo's service at Anfield next season. Now this is ridiculous. Where the hell did that £2m transfer fee came from?! He was released by Real Madrid isn't it?! Why is Real Madrid asking for transfer fee then? Why don't we just give Nunez back to them in exchange for Figo? I suggest we not rush into signing Figo. Let him go back to Madrid and reck a havoc there. Madrid will be silly to pay him £100 000/wk to let him warm the bench. Then we can slowly negotiate a price for him. I'm sure with the shrewdness of Rafa, we'll be able to pay peanuts for this galactico to come to Anfield. Lets not do business with Madrid again. Wat a nitemare. I think they've put their name to shame by eating back their words and demanding a transfer fee for Figo. SHAME ON THEM! The second shocking news is... WE'R GETTING CROUCH!!! Oh no~ £6.5m for a giraffe? Lets get Fowler back instead! And are we getting Kuyt or not? This is very worrying. Will someone pls hijack Crouch away from us? Anyone??? West Ham??? Bluenose???

N now he wants to stay?!

Wat the FUCK is wrong with this lad?! BBC Report IF he's staying, make him sign a life-long contract! Fucking asshole... made a fool out of everybody! More to come... ---------------------------------------- According to Rick Parry, the liverpool captain has made an U-turn once again and decided to stay with this club. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N149256050706-0857.htm Why the hell do we have to undergo this mental torture every transfer season? If his heart is no longer here, then sell him! Not a problem. He made us go thru a rollercoaster ride and honestly speaking, how many of you threw away your jerseys with his name on last night? Wat a muppet! I'm not going to believe anything Parry said until this fickle-minded asshole sits in front of the camera and signs that bloody contract! I felt like a fool this very moment! *pissed*

HE'S OFF

STEVEN Gerrard this afternoon delivered the news every Reds fan was dreading - he wants to leave the club. For futher info, pls refer to the following links: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/ http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N149253050705-1435.htm I'm kinda expecting this from him. I like this man the moment i saw him played his first game. I remembered going down to Peninsular Plaza to get a new jersey with his name behind. At that time, not alot of people know who he was. The shopkeeper even laughed at me when i told him i want to print GERRARD on the back of my jersey. "Who? Gerrard??? Don't waste your money lah" I remembered clearly the shopkeeper's respond. I walked out of the shop with my head up and never went back after that. Years later, this young lad i admired had grown to be England's finest gem. And i'm so proud of him cos he's playing for my club... Liverpool FC. Throughout the years, i see him shine. He had his ups and downs but he never failed to deliver on the pitch. He showed his loyalty by staying with the team even thou we are going thru a rough patch during Houllier's reign. He kept his faith and stayed at Anfield last season even thou Michael-no trophy-n-i'll leave-Owen decide to desert us. But today, he has finally made up his mind to leave his beloved club, the club that feed and groom him to be the player he is today. What a disappointment. Remembered what he said that night in Istanbul? "How can i ever leave after a night like this?" Yah, how could you Gerrard? You have broken the hearts of millions of LFC supporters today! And your decision to leave after making such a big hoohaa had utterly turned me off. You have disgrace not only the club, but also yourself. You can choose to leave as a legend. Too bad, you chose to leave as a villain. I'm not sad that you chose to leave, i just felt disgusted. Nevermind, there are tonnes of players out there dying to put on the LFC jersey. We did it without Owen, i'm sure we can also do it without you just as long as we have the master tactician with us. Thanks for sticking with us (willingly or unwillingly) during the bad times. All the best for your future endeavours.

Welcome Zenden!

1 done, 3 confirmed, 2-3 more to come...

Bolo Zenden signed on a free transfer. According to Rafa, we have also signed Jose Reina, the best goalkeeper in Spain, Mark Gonzales, the best player in Chile and Antonio Barragan.

And it seems like there are more to come during the week. The most heavily speculated players to join us at the moment are Matt Upson(Birmingham), Milito(Real Zaragoza) and Kuyt(Feyenoord). Hopefully, Gerrard can sort out his contract ASAP and not follow the footsteps of Michael-no trophy-n-i'll leave-Owen.

Gerrard Saga

My computer was down since sat and when i was back online today, i was absolutely disgusted by the reports regarding Gerrard's contract saga. I was looking forward to see Zenden being unveiled as a Liverpool player on Mon but in the end, what i was looking forward to seem to be marred by what's going on between the club, Rafa and Captain Marvel. I doubt whatever rubbish written in the tabloids are real. But if there is any truth in the reports with regards to the contract negotitation fiasco, i think the club, the coach and the player should be ashame of themselves. Not because of greed nor pride but because of the shame they have brought to the club... the club with the biggest history in UK!