Liverpool vs Man City Preview

Return Of The 'Kaiser'

Liverpool will welcome back former fan's favourite, Didi Hamann back to Anfield after he left the club last summer. He has talked about the emotion of returning back to his former spiritual home but as a professional, I'm sure he will put up a very effective performance despite his 'Scouse-ness' and his love for Liverpool.

After a hard-earned victory over PSV Eindhoven, the Reds will look to build on the win as they continue to toil on the domestic front which has been so far been disappointing. The home form hasn't been a problem thus far and that the Liverpool fans can be more assured today. But there's no easy games and I was impressed by the way Man City played last week against Fulham.

Samaras, who resembled Fernando Morientes, will be a threat with his aerial prowess as well as Bernando Corradi, who has not found the net until last week when he turned in style to score a brace. Both of them will cause problems with their physical presence while Joey Barton and Darius Vassell will attempt to run in from deep.

Injury problems mount for Liverpool with a number of senior players missing. Losing Aurelio, Sissoko, Warnock, Pennant, Xabi Alonso and Mark Gonzalez, it will another guessing game for everyone as Rafa plans out a makeshift team.

Drogballs Prediction: 2-0 Home win. Liverpool's home form has been very good and Anfield is almost an unbreachable fortress whereas Man City's away form is just as bad as ours. Form are meant to changed, but not at Anfield, I'm afraid.

Welcome....

This few days I've seen a surge in the amount of visitors on here. Not much idea why, but just to say welcome!

Okay anyway this a message to EVERYONE who's reading this. I need a feedback from you guys as to how I can improve the website. Maybe you would like to see a new feature such as goal of the week or player of the month sort of thing, please feedback to me because as a blogger I feel that it's important for all of us to communicate to each other and it's my job to ensure everyone enjoy their stay over here.

Yea, so email me or drop a comment? Thank you guys for the support. Much appreciated.

Reds Sign Argentinian Left Back

Liverpool have agreed a deal with Boca Juniors for youngster Emiliano Insua.

The 17-year-old left back is yet to make the first-team breakthrough at La Bombanera, but he has already been tipped for a bright future.

Now Reds scouts Frank McParland and Eduardo Macia have highlighted Insua's potential to Rafa Benitez - and a deal has been finlaised.

Liverpool will take the player on loan - for which they will pay nearly £100,000 - after which point they will pay a further £1 million to finalise the move.

Insua, an Argentine youth international, arrived in England earlier this week after the two clubs struck the deal.

'God' Not Watching Closely Enough...

Bellamy In Nightclub Trouble Again

Craig Bellamy grabbed a young woman by the throat after they bumped into each other at a nightclub, a court heard today.

The Wales and Liverpool striker is alleged to have assaulted 19-year-old Sophie Palmer and 20-year-old Holly Smith during a night out in Cardiff city centre during the early hours of February 5 this year.

Prosecutor Mike Hammett told Cardiff Magistrates Court the alleged altercation happened as Bellamy was walking in a corridor at the No 10 nightclub at about 2am.

Mr Hammett said Bellamy collided with Miss Palmer as she walked in the opposite direction, and "words were exchanged".

Bellamy is said to have then grabbed Miss Palmer's friend, Holly Smith, by the wrist and swore at her.

The court heard that moments later he followed the pair after they had walked away and grabbed Miss Palmer by the throat.

Bellamy's friend and sometime minder, Franklin Lynch, was also accused of assaulting Miss Palmer, and is alleged to have grabbed her in a bear hug when she tried to get assistance from door staff.

After the two women made an official complaint to police, Bellamy told officers during an interview the incident started when he caught the eye of one of the complainants, in the nightclub.

Seriously, as a Liverpool player, you not only conduct yourself ON the field, but OFF the field as well. Not that there's a special rule for the Reds player, but I think if Bellamy doesn't change his attitude, he'll be out of the club before he can even make any sort of positive impact. It's already frustrating enough to see him play so badly every time he's on the pitch and then now he's back to c**tish best with that sort of action.

To me, Bellamy's arrival at Liverpool is more like a chance given by Rafa. Not that I doubt his talents, but his attitude and off the pitch problem are really obvious.

So if he doesn't grab this chance by the scruff of the neck, bye Bellers. You're obviously not fit for the red jersey.

Reds Top Group After 2-0 Win

But Hit By Triple Injury Woes

UEFA Champions League

LIVERPOOL 2 - 0 PSV Eindhoven

Scorers:
LIV - Gerrard (65min), Crouch (89min);

1-0 Gerrard:



2-0 Crouch:

Our dear cable provider decided to show the match late (6am in the morning, dude) and I was sick for couple of days already. The medicine made me drowsy and couldn't wake up for the live streaming. Whatever it is, I'm still here to type something at least for a show and to express my pleasure of seeing our beloved Reds finally scoring again after such a long time. It felt like years since we scored, eh.

So Liverpool now top Group C with 14 points with Dutch counterpart PSV Eindhoven joining us in the Knock-out round or the Last 16. It was a fairly meaningless match but Liverpool wanted to claim the top spot in order to sort of draw the team that finish second elsewhere. It might NOT be an easy team, but the plus point is of course we get to play at Anfield for the second leg.

Steven Gerrard impacted the game from the middle of the park and drew praise from Rafa and Ronald Koeman. The injury to Alonso now makes it more obvious that Gerrard will now play a more central role in weeks to come. Peter Crouch then left it late with a header which ensures all 3 points for the home side.

The victory was marred by injuries. Terrible luck. Mark Gonzalez was rumoured to came off the worst with torn hamstring while Xabi Alonso and Jermaine Pennant were carried off the pitch as well.

So what will Rafa do now? Of course I believe the squad depth is there and there's always possibilities, like what Rafa always said. The reasonable change will be Warnock at left back, pushing Riise on to left midfield. Zenden will get an automatic place alongside Gerrard while Garcia will be on the right.

But who knows. Rafa might spring a surprise like calling up Paul Anderson to the right or even Lee Peltier and then Finnan to play at the right wing slot. Now Rafa will have the little liberty to reshuffle his pack without getting bombarded with the reason being injury.

I hope that the injuries aren't too serious and will not have an adverse effect on our already very disappointing Premiership campaign. With Sissoko already out till the new year, the central midfield area is just about enough to cover and hopefully, Xabi won't be out for too long.

This is certainly a morale boosting victory which is hard earned and I think we deserve it after toiling and trying so hard against Boro over the weekends. Goals will come when confidence is back up and may the spirit of Istanbul/Cardiff live on.

We might be far off pace from the Premiership. But seriously, who knows what will happen?


Other Results:
Bordeaux 3-1 Galatasaray
Levski Sofia 0-2 Barcelona
Werder Bremen 1-0 Chelsea
Inter 1-0 Sporting
Shaktar 1-0 Roma
Valencia 2-0 Olympiakos
Spartak 2-2 Bayern Munich

Thanks to GettyImages for the pictures

New Signing Underway...

Paletta Won't Be Lonely Anymore

LIVERPOOL are close to snapping up Argentina starlet Emiliano Insua in a deal worth around £1m.

The 17-year-old left-back arrived on Merseyside today from legendary South American club Boca Juniors.

He'll be at Anfield in time to watch tonight's Champions League clash with PSV.

It's anticipated he'll initially sign on loan until the end of the season, with the deal agreed to make the move permanent next summer.

Insua is part of the exciting Argentine Under-20 side who are currently world champions at their level, and his arrival is part of an ongoing strategy by Rafa Benitez to recruit elite youngsters from across the world and provide a stable foundation for the future of the club.

Chief scouts Frank McParland and Eduardo Macia have been entrusted to scour the globe for potential stars of the future.

Insua comes into that category, having been spotted excelling for his country's youth team, and there are expected to be more recruits in the New Year.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona were tracking Insua, but Liverpool were the first to show an interest in the teenager, prompting him to reject recent moves from Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford.

There are those at Anfield who believe Insua could challenge for a first team spot before the end of this season, and will certainly be an option in time for the 2007-08 campaign.

ShunsuK-Oed

Not gloating at the United fans, but what a brilliant freekick from Nakamura. You do the Asians proud my friend (although I do not have much love for the Japoonese)



So good that he scored twice against United with his wonderful left foot.

If You Didn't Notice...

There are 'Live Feeds' from all major football websites at the side panel just below the tag board. They are constantly updated along with their websites which are always up to date. So, no..I didn't type the news one by one here. I don't have THAT much time :)

Anyway hope that helps if you're interested in other news.

Agger Put Up For Sale!

At a bargain price as well! What's Rafa thinking here?

Link for story

sorry about that....

Poor Fella...

Soccer Player Dies During Game - video powered by Metacafe

He was laughing one moment, then gone the next. That's how fragile life is.

Contrary to popular beliefs that football is more than life and death, perhaps I beg to differ...

There's still more to life than football.

Do You Need Some Inspiration?

Everyone's so down. Player's down and fans give up. But hey, if you need something to cheer you up, get emotional and to reconnect your love with the club, look no further.

One Night In May:







Let's hope the spirit of Istanbul is not forgotten by the players, because the fans will never forget. We might be like 3-0 down right now but you'll never know what will happen next.

Thanks to Psychohare for uploading.

Since You Lot Has Given Up....

Xabi Alonso believes the doom and gloom engulfing Liverpool has already all but scuppered their hopes of competing for the Premiership title.

Another below par performance from The Reds in a goalless draw at Middlesbrough on Saturday evening means the team trail leaders Manchester United by 16 points after just 13 matches.

A run of just two points from 21 available away from home has left their title hopes hanging by a thread.

Alonso admits he would be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel, were it not for the negativity pervading the Anfield dressing room.

"The fight for the title is getting more and more difficult for us," said Alonso.

"Not just because of the points difference but because of the atmosphere I see at the club.

"I see pessimism and in that respect it is going to be very hard to come back.

"We can't put three straight wins together and are unable to transmit the spirit of Europe to league games.

"I don't know if it is something psychological but we are very annoyed."

As a fan, I've remained positive thus far, defending players, defending Rafa's tactics and remain optimistic about the season although it has been pretty sh*te. But since players has already been coming out and throwing in the towel, what hope is there?

If you people want to give up, please at least score a goal in an away game or even better, win one. After that you bananas can go on and do whatever you want.

Toothless & Unimaginative = No Goals Again

English Premiership

Middlesborough 0 - 0 LIVERPOOL

Are you surprised that Liverpool fired blanks again last night? I don't even need to tell you the exact number of minutes we've gone on to NOT score in an away game because the commentators have been reminding everyone of us. It's like rubbing the salt on your wounds. Those words hurt and at the same time, beggars belief.

A team with 11 full internationals looked so toothless and so impotent that I reckon the team's going through a confidence crisis.

The way we took the game to Boro, dominated lion shares of possession and then gone home with 2 points dropped without scoring a goal is just plain shame.

If the referee of the Sheffield United game in the opening weekend had not given us the ridiculous penalty, it would've been even more embarrassing and...ridiculous.

I must admit all the away games we've got so far has been difficult games against top teams. But as weeks pass by, I fail to see that as a 'reason' to our team's fall from grace. As a top team, you're expected to dispatch anyone in your path not with ease but at least with the grittiness and effectiveness.

We've seen Chelsea over and over again winning without playing at their top of the game. They can win 1-0 all the way without trouble. When you win, nobody criticises you. Then recently the rise of Man Utd. They've raised their game, silenced all critics, proved everyone wrong and made those pundits who says ManYoo is a falling empire, eat their words.

I saw the way they came back against Sheffield United and I'm impressed.

Now the thing is do we still have the belief and confidence to come back from the dead just like in Istanbul and Cardiff? Sadly, it seemed that it's all gone. The team looked deflated. They looked jaded and lack of motivation. Now we can't even win a one sided match 1-0.

Rafa mentioned he was surprised as to see us not win the match. Sorry Rafa, I beg to differ. Although we controlled the game well, the best chance of the match fell to Boro and I myself was surprised by Yakubu's air kick with the goal gaping. You would've bet him to put that away, but we're lucky to escape.

Of course you can argue we have our fair share of 'good chances'. Crouch had his header cleared off the line while Kuyt missed by an inch. But let's just say, we fail to put teams away. We lacked the clinical touch to kill the game off like the big teams do.

Crouch was substituted on FAR too late in the game to make any impact. On that part, I don't know what's Rafa thinking about leaving Bellamy on the pitch when Boro's defence has already sat so deep with no space behind them. He's like a midget lost at sea. Poor touches didn't help either.

On that Kuyt's chance, a top draw striker would've put that away. Not that I doubt his quality, but football is about grabbing your chances and make your opponents pay. We didn't and we paid for it.

I don't think I need to further comment on the other players because they all played average at best. No particular player stood out while some just manage to disappoint me even further.

Yesterday, what I saw was a mid table match. A match between two teams scrapping for UEFA Cup spot. If we don't improve, then I'm afraid we're going to have to win the Champions League again. Wishful thinking on my part of course.