The Reds Are Coming

Hear ye, hear ye!

Good news to all Liverpool fans here over in South-east Asia. Your long neglected support for Liverpool FC have been finally noticed! With our market largely untapped by the Merseyside giants, Ian Ayre, the commercial director of LFC have finally saw the potential here.

Liverpool will travel to both Thailand and Singapore (WOOHOO!) for their South-east Asian tour in July for the pre-season warm ups and friendlies and this news will definitely be well-recieved in this part of the world, were football fanatics would pay any price just to see their favourite team.

And I'm sure this does not only interest the local Liverpool fans but supporters of other clubs as well! I've contacted a few Man Utd and Arsenal fans and all have enthusiastically mentioned that they won't miss out on this opportunity.

I'm sure most Singapore Reds will remember back in 2001 when Liverpool defeated the Singapore national side 2-0.

But I'm confident that this time round, the tour will be even more successful than the last because the current Liverpool side are more marketable than back in 2001, with fans willing to pay however much to see Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in action.

Can't wait! More information will be up as soon as the press release is done here. Stay tune!

22nd July 2009
Thailand National Team v Liverpool Football Club
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
8.00pm Kick Off (local time)
Bangkok is 6 hours ahead of UK

26th July 2009
Singapore National Team v Liverpool Football Club
National Stadium, Singapore
7.00pm Kick Off (local time)
Singapore is 7 hours ahead of UK

Welcome Break for Rafa's Men

By Gareth Freeman

Getting beat by Everton in the FA Cup could even be seen as a blessing in disguise come May. I know what you’re thinking, losing to the blue half of Merseyside is never a good thing but with the mid-week international fixtures and then the FA Cup at the weekend Rafa’s side don’t play again until February 22 when they face Man City.

With a relatively small squad and a shortage of strikers this break could be a vital boost for Benitez’s tiring side. The win at Portsmouth came at just the right time and kept the pressure on Manchester United, who didn’t look that convincing in their narrow 1-0 victory over West Ham.

Surprisingly there are no Liverpool players in the England squad that take on Spain on February 11, there are however, five Reds in the Spanish squad. Reina, Arbeloa, Alonso, Riera and of course Fernando Torres are all included in the line-up but as it is a friendly I don’t expect them all to play a full 90 minutes. Torres in particular has been struggling with fatigue and I expect him to play a part for Spain but I doubt whether Spain’s coach Vicente del Bosque will risk injuring his star-striker.

Added to that the Spanish coach has chosen an in-form team rather than stuck with familiar names and he may wish to use Daniel Guiza and Fernando Llorente in attack at some point. Guiza plays for Fenerbache in Turkey so I imagine del Bosque will want to see how he links up with a squad who are in the vast majority based in Spain (or all play together at Liverpool). Llorente is a target man kind of striker and has only been capped once by Spain, the Athletic Bilbao forward has been in fine form this season and I expect del Bosque to utilize him at some point, which should allow Torres a rest.

The fact that Liverpool will enjoy the weekend off after the international fixtures should help Rafa rest his tired squad. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa will all have players involved in internationals and then face tricky FA Cup ties. Chelsea travel to Watford, Manchester United face Derby at Pride Park, Arsenal take on Cardiff at home and Aston Villa take on Everton. None of these ties will be easy and with the size of Liverpool’s squad a break from a hectic fixture list could not have come at a better time.

I’m going to end with a few football betting picks. I tend to avoid friendly matches when betting as, in my opinion, it becomes very hard to predict and you never know what side the managers will put out. There are a few World Cup Qualifiers though and I expect the Republic of Ireland - who have still not lost under Giovanni Trapattoni - to beat Georgia, while Northern Ireland should easily see of San Marino away. My final football betting tip for you would be to back the draw in the Arsenal Vs Cardiff FA Cup tie on Monday 16 February. Arsene Wenger’s side have faltered lately and I expect him to field a fairly weakened team in light of the fact they have fallen quite a way off the Champions League places in the Premier League and Wenger knows how important qualification to the prestigious tournament is.

Torres' First In Reds Victory

Port of Rotterdam Tournament

Liverpool 2 - 0 Shanghai Shenhua

Scorers:
LIV - Torres, Gerrard


Match Highlights:

Liverpool's record summer signing, Fernando Torres, is finally able to put his inauspicious start to the back of his mind after scoring against Chinese Super League side, Shenghai Shenhua, in the Port of Rotterdam Tournament.

It rounded off a pretty lively performance from the Spanish striker after he was put through by another summer signing, Yossi Benayoun, with a reverse through ball in the 12th minute.

It was a calm and composed finish and what impresses the most would probably be his movement in the penalty area and his game intelligence as he shrugged off the offside trap to lift the ball past the goalkeeper into the empty net.

Despite putting out a weakened team with several players making their first start, including Argentinian winger, Sebastian Leto and Brazilian playmaker, Lucas Leiva in the middle of the park, Liverpool were able to display some good football.

The game started off in a training match pace but it only took the Reds 12 minutes before finding the net.

As Rafa is always seemed as a pragmatist, Liverpool were constantly in the driving seat throughout the game with only one or two scares with former 'Boro striker, Hamilton Ricard, causing some concerns for Hyypia and Paletta.

Though dominating possessions, chances were few and far between. Liverpool's controlled and disciplined approach to the game were met with Shanghai's deep lying defence and soon it turned into a game that lacked the sparkle of life.

And it's always this time when the special players show their talents.

Steven Gerrard scored an absolute beauty of a curler from outside the penalty box moments after being substituted into the side and even the spectating Feyenoord fans stood up for a standing ovation as an appreciation of his class.

Despite arching his back and the ball seemingly headed out of goal, it bent right in at the nick of time, giving the goalkeeper no chance at all. It was a beautifully taken goal even though there were a few defenders around him putting him under pressure.

Liverpool played the game with safety in their minds but it is encouraging to see the likes of Torres and Benayoun shining.

Lucas Leiva worked hard in the middle of the park and didn't look out of place alongside the more experienced Sissoko while Emiliano Insua and Sebastian Leto, the duo Argentinians, linked up well down the left flank.

As they say, friendlies are all about fitness and there's nothing that pleases you more than seeing players fitter and more ready for the upcoming season.

Liverpool will play Feyenoord, Dirk Kuyt's former club, on Sunday.

Updates, Updates

Apologies for the late update. I've been pretty busy with stuff lately and should be a little more free after tomorrow so bear with me. Meanwhile, I'll just do a quick summary of everything that has happened over the weekend and of course the latest transfer rumours.


Too Good For Crewe

Pre-season Friendly

Crewe Alexandra 0 - 3 Liverpool

Scorers:
LIV - Peltier, Crouch, Putterill

Crewe vs Liverpool Highlights
Uploaded by redhalfofmerseyside

With the big guns reporting back for training last week, Rafa Benitez was able to field a pretty strong side compared to the previous friendly against Wrexham.

Skipper, Steven Gerrard, was put straight into the starting line up along with the likes of Peter Crouch and John Arne Riise but it was the backups who made the news headline, particularly Ray Putterill and of course, new signing, Andiry Voronin.

Prior to the American take-over, he signed for Liverpool after his contract ran out and decided to join Anfield for free and by the looks of his performance, he'll be quite handy in some matches. Despite coming on a free, he might still have a part to play in the team as he's given the number 10 jersey.

His style of play looked pretty similar to Dirk Kuyt, as they are industrious attackers who likes to drop deep between the lines and create opportunities and open up space for their strike partner. He was involved in a couple of chances and seemed pretty active.

Jay Spearing too, received rave reviews for his performance in the central midfield, alongside Gerrard, whom he must be yearning to emulate in the near future.

Ray Putterill's performance was also decent and got the goal he deserved. One of the players who participated in last season's victorious FA Youth Cup campaign, he was lively and his tendency to drift infield makes him a very difficult player to track.

Liverpool will now move to their training camp in Switzerland before facing off with the big guns such as the upcoming match against Werder Bremen before moving off for an Asian tour.

New signings such as Yossi Benayoun, Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel are expected to make their first appearance for the club in tomorrow's match and it'll be interesting to see what tactics Rafa will put out and how is he going to use the new signings.


Reds After Chiellini?

We've been pretty busy in the market lately with a couple of important signings for the first team and countless number of players for the reserve and youth squad.

Rumours has been doing its round that Gabriel Heinze, the ManYoo defender, is interested in a move from Old Trafford to Anfield. It might sound ludicrous but the story seemed to get more real as each day passes by. Even Sir Alex admitted that he wants out.

We're aware of our situation and that co-owner, Tom Hicks, has mentioned that there'll be one more name to be added before we call it a day.

Simao, Mancini, Quaresma are the names in the whirlwind pool but from many people's point of view, a left back would be needed, especially after the announcement that Fabio Aurelio will miss the start of the 07/08 season.

Heinze's name was linked to us because he could play in the left back slot as well as providing cover for Carragher, Agger and Hyypia.

But as Rafa is unlikely to let Gabriel Paletta, another Argentinian defender, off for season loan, Heinze's versatility might not be necessary and now it seemed like Rafa has turned his attention to Italian U-21 defender, Giorgio Chiellini.

A very highly rated attacking full back of Juventus, he has captained the Italian U21 side and was named in the 'UEFA Team of the Tournament' in the U21 Championship last month.

It is reported that Liverpool has offered 5million GBP for his service but Juventus will only let go for 7million. More to follow...

Poor Spain Defeat Clueless England

Macca Under Intense Pressure

Friendly

England 0 - 1 Spain

ESP - Iniesta

Although it was only a friendly, it has to be one of the more dire and abject performance by the Three Lions in recent times. Now England have gone 4 games without a win and England fans should be worried as to whether the team is really moving in the right direction or are they falling further behind.

Impact wise, it is not as devastating as the defeat at Croatia when Paul Robinson decides to put up a truly dreadful performance but you've got to wonder what lies ahead for McClaren and his team. Because for me, I see no improvement whatsoever. And don't go on about evolution or revolution because they are PR stunts and are said to appease the fans.

Performance wise, dreadful, insipid and absolutely woeful. Apart from the first 5 minutes when England turned up the gear and played at their own pace and momentum (which is at 100km/h), they just looked out of sort, confused and lost.

We must admit that the Spain team last night was not the best as well. They struggled to cope with the pace of Dyer and S-Wright Phillips at times but I think the England players must be in awe of the way Spain controlled the possession and rhythm of the game.

Xavi in the middle was the one pulling the strings. He don't seemed to appear in your TV screen as much as Lampard or Gerrard but did an awful lot more than the whole of England's XI added up together. Sums it up pretty much.

David Villa then decides to conjure up brilliant cross which was well defended by Rio Ferdinand. Unfortunately, the ball fell to the worst possible candidate in England's eye. Andres Iniesta of Barcelona fired into the top corner. Everyone stood still, no one there to close him down.

You'll expect some sort of response from the England team, who are playing their last game at Old Trafford before moving into their new home at Wembley. But that was about it. It was just like what happen when you play Football Manager when the opponent scores and then there was absolutely no reply from your team for the next 40-50 minutes.

Now let's put the performance aside. I think McClaren should have a reality check. Because either he doesn't watch football, doesn't have the tactical nous or the FA just think he's a stop gap for someone bigger, like Scolari or Hiddink (??).

Firstly, on the case of Paul Robinson. We've been harping for months on how dire and inept this goalkeeper has been since his move to Spurs. He seemed to gain an extra stone or two and to be honest, in all the Spurs match I've watched, any shots on Robbo's goal turned out to be a goal. Who can forget his air-kick? To sum it up, his form this season has been absolutely awful.


So, Macca tried out Ben Forster in goal and he managed to put up a decent performance. But the key here would be the pre-match talk where McClaren mentioned 'Robinson's position is not threatened'. Are you crazy? Which manager would tell their player that their position is safe no matter how shit you play? So now Robbo must be thinking 'aye I can continue to eat my pies and till get the numer 1 jersey every year'. Reality check one. Fail.

Regarding Gareth Barry, the most under-rated player in the Premiership by far. With Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge withdrawn from the squad due to injury, you would expect the Villa captain to be slotted into the left back position with ease. His performance for Villa have been consistent in recent years and deserve it all.

Overlooked by Sven, now he has his chance. But McClaren once again, came up with one of the most bizarre decision I've seen. Putting Phil Neville in the left back slot. Is this Philip the one that cost England a penalty in the Euro 2000 game against Romania? In the left back slot?

His reason was: 'I want players to play in the position that they play for their respective clubs'. Gareth Barry have been playing as a left winger for majority of the season at Villa, fair enough. Hang on, is Phil Neville a left back for Everton then? No? I thought I saw him playing in midfield against Liverpool and perhaps a right back a few weeks back. So everything, backfires. Sorry, your reason is not a reason but an excuse.

Looking at the first eleven of the England team, the only left footed player on the field is none other than, the goalkeeper. How much of a joke is that? I could find more left footed players than England do!

Tactics wise, I'm no genius, but I see no movement or plan on the pitch. They're so 'flexible' that everyone seemed to get into each others way. You could argue that England are missing a few key players and it's just a friendly. But you've got to wonder where England are heading with this man.

Problems are not on the surface. It's a deep problem down to the youth system. He mentioned about England having to play their own style rather than copying the other team's. So what now, is England's style? I think even Mr. McClaren have a problem answering that.