The Summer Acquisitions

It has been a very busy summer for Liverpool indeed and those panicky and to be honest, the club sealed those deals pretty effectively this time round with less hassling. Back in June when things were so quiet and us, as fans, got so panicky and scared. But soon, those fears were unfounded.

Here's a quick recap of players who are signed for the first team and will probably appear in the TV near you!


Fernando Torres

The new Liverpool record signing from Athletico Madrid will have to share the goalscoring burden along with Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch for the upcoming season.

Liverpool's problem in recent times had always been scoring goals and the failure to stick the ball into the onion bag cost us titles on countless of occasions.

His pre-season showing have been mixed and judgment won't made until the time is right. Although it is believed that he'll have to get quickly off his block and score his first goal for the club as soon as possible or the 'Peter Crouch effect' we've seen in the 05-06 season will probably manifest itself again.

As the most expensive player bought by Liverpool in it's long and glorious history, fans are expecting and anticipating something big from the Spaniard. Expectations reap pressure for him but I'm sure he'll handle it well.

Rough Prediction: He'll take awhile before scoring his first goal, like Peter Crouch. But once he find his confidence and momentum, he will come good. Will probably score around 15 goals.


Andriy Voronin

Looking the business there, isn't it?

His move was obviously overshadowed by Fernando Torres' and that he moved into the club almost silently, without much attention.

But from his pre-season friendly performance, many started to sit up and take notice of the man Rafa got for free when he had resources at his disposal. Well you can argue that he got Voronin when the takeover was still in doubt but I believe Rafa had faith in his ability.

He looked perfectly fitted for the hustle and bustle of the Premiership, big, strong and good in the air. What's more, he's the sort of footballer Rafa love. Intelligence on the pitch itself plus hard-work and determination.

But then again, jury is still yet to be out for the man who partnered Andiry Shevchenko in the World Cup. He might look pretty fine during the pre-season but even Bruno Cheyrou looked good back then......

Rough Prediction: Won't make too many appearances but will certainly make some impact, being a surprise player. Will score around 5-9 goals in all competition, optimistic view though.


Ryan Babel & Yossi Benayoun

The reason why I combined both of them into one section is because...they look really good together in the picture...

No, just kidding. It's because I've no idea where they'll exactly play and how they'll fit into Rafa's rotation policy and his formation.

Ryan Babel looked pretty much like an Henry-esque winger cum striker sort of player who always looked to drift into the flanks. He's known for his speed and also his shooting accuracy from range. His shots does pack a punch!

Yossi Benayoun was the playmaker of West Ham in their peak period, when they narrowly lost to Liverpool in the memorable 2006 FA Cup finals. He played a major role in the Hammers uprising and that his ability to create and his creative vision made him the perfect player to replace Luis Garcia, who was offloaded to Atletico Madrid.

Rafa is a long time admirer of Benayoun even back in the days when Yossi was still playing for Spanish side, Racing Santander. He was delighted to finally land his man after such a long time.

Benayoun will probably appear on the flanks more often than not and he will have to fend off competition from fellow wingers, Jermaine Pennant and Harry Kewell and secure a place in the side.

Babel still have got a lot to learn and his inexperience means his appearance will be limited to perhaps some cup games and a handful of league games. Rafa will probably let him develop at his own pace and not rush him in, with still so many players at his disposal.


Charles Itandje

Currently, no official news from Liverpoolfc.tv but most football sites seemed to think the deal is done. He will replace Scott Carson, who will leave on loan to Aston Villa, as Liverpool's number 2.

Not much is known of this goalkeeper but one thing that struck me was his built. He's 1.93m tall and observers who watched the French Ligue One mentioned that despite his built, he's agile and quick.

Will have to wait for the official news to filter through before I start blabbering on and then becoming a fool in the end!


Lucas Leiva

An exciting prospect coming from the home of football, Brazil. Football talents are rolled out year after year without fail yet this is a Brazilian U-20 captain afterall.

Said to be in the mold of Steven Gerrard, a box to box midfielder, his appearance would also be limited as the central midfield are congested with talents such as Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso.

Despite having so much talent in the middle of the park, Rafa still went ahead to capture the playmaker from Gremio and it speaks about Rafa's faith on Lucas. He's adamant that he will succeed at Liverpool and that's the reason why.


Spending might not be done yet as the Gabriel Heinze saga continues to loom but do watch out for these new blood in Liverpool. let's hope, pray and cross our fingers that our summer acquisitions will turn out to be who Rafa wants them to be and to fully unleash their potential.

Number Games

Squad Readies For 07/08 Season

Aside from the countless new signings this summer, which started unbelievably slow and then sped up towards the end, many other key players have signed new deals such as Gerrard and Carragher.

The latest core player to sign a new contact with Liverpool is none other than 'Mr Reliable' Steve Finnan. His contact will be extended for 2 years with an extra option of a further one year. In case you don't know, he's already 31 and the 2 year contract is a reflection of how important Rafa sees Finnan.

Then as the first team players report back to duty after a lengthy break, the new faces will meet up with the 'old birds' and will have to work collectively as a team and gel together as soon as possible.

Crewe is our next opponent and it is believed that Gerrard and Voronin could make appearance while those who're waiting to see Torres will have to wait a little longer as the Spanish striker is nursing a minor ankle injury.

Registering players for the new season is also underway as numbers will be allocated to the new players while some others requested their favourite number at this time of the year.

As we all know, Torres will take up the legendary '9' shirt that was made famous by Ian Rush and subsequently, Robbie Fowler. Yossi Benayoun will hold the '11' jersey that was vacated by Mark Gonzalez while Ryan Babel, the Dutch forward, is to wear the '19'.

The surprising change is made to Alvaro Arbeloa's number perhaps due to personal preference. He used to wear 17 at Deportivo La Coruna and now, he has left the number '2' jersey vacated, leaving it for us to speculate as to who'll take up the number 2 jersey, probably a wing back on the left.

Scott Carson returns from loan and will wear '26'.

Well, that's about it and the signing of Benayoun and Babel will be officially announced in the press conference shortly. Stay tune for more information....


And the major concern I had before today was Rafa's goatee. Seemed like it's still intact. Very well, Rafa.

Will Yossi Leads Us To The Promised Land?

Two New Signings To Signal The Intent?

Well, we all took it for granted that any Israelis know the way, isn't it?

Whatever it is, the biblical story of Liverpool is building and that it began to unfolds itself as time goes by. We got Fernando Torres earlier last week and his name means 'Tower' in Spanish.

Then we're on the verge of signing Dutch international winger/striker, Ryan Babel, from Ajax.

Put them together, you'll get Tower of Babel. Now that's really weird.

Joking aside, Liverpool have made the step to fill the gap that was left empty by the recently departed Luis Garcia and Djibril Cisse by signing Yossi Benayoun from West Ham and also Ryan Babel, who has always been linked with Arsenal since last summer.

While Yossi's transfer is a done deal and has already signed for the club, Babel's transfer is still yet to reach full agreement and it'll probably be delayed over the weekends. But rumour has it that he has already completed his medical at Anfield and the only thing left is the fee agreement between the clubs.

Well, this picture was taken down from TIA forums and it probably tells you Babel himself has been down to Anfield and there wouldn't be much problem seeing him in the red jersey next season.

I'm never a fan of the new age 'Youtube scouting' system which totally takes away the whole point of scouting, seeing the flaws of a player. So I won't be posting any videos about how he scored a goal from halfway line or turned 5 defenders before scoring from acute angle.

All I can tell is from what I saw on the pitch though honestly, I have never seen Babel played in real life before.

But I think we've all seen Benayoun and will have to agree that he's one handful of a player to be up against and he'll most likely fill up the gap Luis Garcia left, the wing and also the 'hole' position.

We've been linked with him last summer but due to the lack of resources, we let him go. But this summer, we can no longer let players off our hook and with Hicks & Gilett's backing, we're able to grab this chance.

The best of Benayoun was seen in the FA Cup final last season when he tore our defence to shreds with his passing and movement. He scores some wonderful goals for West Ham in his 2 seasons there and he has the creativity to set up others as well.

But as West Ham's season went pear shaped last term, he was subsequently dropped and also had a mini slump in form. Perhaps a good time to move on and also up a level, it'll be a challenge for the Israeli captain.

Ryan Babel, meanwhile, is a quick, strong and versatile player who became the youngest scorer for Holland at international level. He's probably a left footed player but also has a strong right foot and his playing traits are almost identical to Henry's 'drift left, cut centre' move.

He's brought in to give Benitez more 'possibilities' down the flank as well as up front and the lad, who's only 20, is built well enough for the 'harsh' conditions of the Premiership.

One thing that caught my eye was a piece of article talking about his weaknesses, which was obvious throughout the recently concluded U20 Championship, which Holland won. He needs a lot of space and therefore, he's only effective when the opposition defence doesn't play a high line in defence.

That struck me, because Liverpool have a practice of pushing opposition defence back against the wall and then that is when our weakness are. We don't have people playing the spaces left in between defence and midfield. I feel that Babel's strength could very well compliment Liverpool's major weakness.

Anyhow, both signings will yet again come under scrutiny as they are certainly the world beaters many fans were expecting but I believe both of them will give the squad a boost in terms of depth and also a little on quality up front, in the final third.

Benayoun has proven himself that he can excel in the Premiership and though Garcia's boot is a big one to fill, I personally thinks he could do well for us.

Babel, meanwhile, is a one for the future yet we cannot rule him out of the first team at all. He's probably the player Benitez wants to nurture perhaps into the next Henry, as Marco van Basten mentioned, and then turn him into a world class player himself.

This is probably the first time we've been so active in the transfer market and all the anxiety we had earlier on are all thrown out the window. Even after concluding the two signings, Mr. Hicks suggested we're to make one more signing and that the ending still hasn't end here.

Exciting times ahead, aye!