Some matters outside of football first. Some disturbing news on Thursday that Mas Selamat, leader of the JI network in Singapore, escaped the Whitely Detention Centre the day before, limping and probably unarmed. Someone got bribed to letting him go? In any case, Singapore's impregnable security is impregnable no more. Haha... Our neighbours in the North and below us are definitely laughing at us.
I also took my 'O' Level Physics SPA Skill 1 and 2 on Wednesday. It was worth 7.5% of the total 'O' Level physics paper. I think I did quite well, and hopefully might be able to grasp 90% of the marks allocated. I need it! My theory isn't very good, you know...
Now back to football, NOT soccer. Argentinian midfield hard-man Javier Mascherano has signed a four-year contract, for a fee thought to be £17 million, to be paid to his owners MSI, not West Ham. So now Liverpool's midfield looks like this, in accordance to their pecking order.
Steven Gerrard, JavierMascherano, Xabi Alonso, Lucas Leiva
Let's look at the first midfield quartet Rafa Benitez had.
Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Dietmar Hamann, Igor Biscan
The only two survivors are Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. But the 2005 back-up midfielders of Dietmar Hamann and Igor Biscan are replaced by the 2008 batch of Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva. Definitely, Hamann and Mascherano will be compared to in the near future, whether Mascherano is better or as good as Hamann in his prime, that sort of thing. But it'd be hard to see whether Lucas is better than Biscan, as both are different sort of players.
Now on to the game tomorrow night. Liverpool travel to the Reebok Stadium to face Gary Megson's Bolton Wanderers side. That ground has been a bit of a difficulty for Liverpool in recent times, and must improve their record in order to regain fourth spot and put pressure on Everton.
Reebok Stadium Sunday 2 March 2008 9.25pm (SG GMT+8) Football Channel (27)
Liverpool Line-Up:
25 Jose Manuel Reina
23 Jamie Carragher __ 4 Sami Hyypia
3 Steve Finnan ______________________________________ 17 Alvaro Arbeloa
8 Steven Gerrard (C)____ 20 Javier Mascherano
11 Yossi Benayoun______________________________________ 6 John Arne Riise
15 Peter Crouch ______ 9 Fernando Torres
Substitutes: 30 Charles Itandje _ 14 Xabi Alonso _ 19 Ryan Babel _ 7 Harry Kewell _ 18 Dirk Kuyt
Liverpool will need to play with some strength and decent height all around to try to neutralise some of Bolton's threats. Jose Reina to start in goal again. Steve Finnan should be deployed at right-back, whilst Alvaro Arbeloa might be used at left-back to deal with the pace of El-Hadji Diouf or height of Kevin Davies. Either way, Sami Hyypia will start to deal with Davies' more central threat, whilst the returning Jamie Carragher will command the defence.
Javier Mascherano should start to deal with Kevin Nolan or/and Ivan Campo. Skipper Steven Gerrard will continue in the heart of the midfield, and his bursting runs should cause problems for Bolton's defence. Yossi Benayoun will play to add something different to the Reds' attack, and John Arne Riise, if not started at left-back, should play at left wing to give Liverpool some defensive edge and a bit of hard running when attacking.
Fernando Torres will start, no matter what opposition. Abdoulaye Faye might have a hard time dealing with him. Peter Crouch should start alongside Torres, with his height at both ends of the pitch being very useful. If Rafa goes with the five defenders on the pitch, I doubt there would be another on the bench, so Xabi Alonso will take his place, and come on if an added midfield man is needed. With an extra bench place, Ryan Babel and Harry Kewell could have places on the bench, and could come on to add a more attacking threat. Dirk Kuyt will come on should a striker be needed.
C'mon Reds!
Bye~!
my thoughts at 10:55 pm
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Some videos now, rarely seen here on me blog, but what the heck. Here's another show from everyone's favourite terrorist puppet Achmed, by Jeff Dunham, and his Christmas song, "Jingle Bombs. It's quite funny, I must say.
This is the Top 10 Goals from the recently ended African Cup of Nations that a Mohammed Zidan-inspired Egypt won. It's pretty good, believe me. Absolute crackers all round, and it looks like Manchester United have stolen an African jewel in the name of Manucho. Enjoy
After a morale-boosting 2-0 home win against Inter Milan in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League, Liverpool go into the match at Middlesbrough with several defensive absentees and doubts. The Reds' are also looking for revenge after only drawing the match with Boro in the reverse fixture at the Riverside Stadium at the start of the year.
3 Steve Finnan ______________________________________ 6 John Arne Riise
14 Xabi Alonso____ 20 Javier Mascherano
8 Steven Gerrard (C) ______________________________________ 11 Yossi Benayoun
18 Dirk Kuyt ______ 9 Fernando Torres
Substitutes (Probable): 30 Charles Itandje _ 17 Alvaro Arbeloa_ 21 Lucas Leiva _19 Ryan Babel _15 Peter Crouch
So I really hope there would be little rotation in Rafa Benitez's line-up tonight against Middlesbrough, no complacency whatsoever from the gaffer, and ultimately, the players. Jose Reina will almost definitely continue in goal. Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise will be the full-backs. With suspension to Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger still having to play the reserve game against Manchester United on Tuesday for some kind of match fitness, Sami Hyypia is almost going to play. If Martin Skrtel is fit enough, he should play alongside him, if not, Alvaro Arbeloa will fill in.
Steven Gerrard should get his free-role at the right side to centre attacking midfield area. Xabi Alonso should get another chance to show what he can do, with Javier Mascherano covering for him. Yossi Benayoun should play left midfield, with Jermaine Pennant and Harry Kewell left out.
Dirk Kuyt should continue to get his chance to continue his recovered goalscoring form. Fernando Torres has to play, after Rafa made his statement he would play his strongest line-up for the rest of the season. He should have done that like long time ago. If Agger is deemed fit, he might get a chance on the bench, but as it stands, Arbeloa should get it, and only be needed for an emergency, really. Lucas Leiva might get another appearance should Alonso stutter again. Ryan Babel and Peter Crouch might come on to add the pace and height respectively.
C'mon Reds!
Bye~!
my thoughts at 5:38 pm
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Well, it's been a difficult and trying week or so, but I guess we've all coped well with it. Academic-wise, everyone's still stressed out and going on and on and on with the work the teachers are giving. Physics and Chemistry Science Practical Assessment, or SPA, is in a couple of weeks time, with Physics coming a week earlier than Chemistry. Good luck for that. And my results this term has been pretty much the same since last year; strong in humanities, weak in sciences.
Chinese B3 Add Maths A1 E Maths C6 Chemistry C6 Physics C6 History A1 Combined Humanities A1 - Social Studies A1 - Geography Elect B3
Did I missed out anything? Never mind. So as you can see, my Chinese is as usual, a B, this time with a 3 though, just trying to push it into an A2, and hopefully an A1 by the O' Levels. My Additional Maths is a healthy A1, even after moderation and the fact that the cut off point for A1 is 85 for Maths, not 75. After not touching E Maths for 6 months, I got a decent C6, just have to recap and revise and I'm confident it'll get back to an A1. Hmm... Chem, Phys... C6 as usual, I have no clue what I have to do to get a better grade. And my humanities all had an A1, with History scoring well, and Social Studies' excellent grade pulling up Geography's B3 to result in Combined being an A1. And I'm expecting my Engrish to be C5, at most B4.
In the middle of this trying week, I thought of the Liverpool-Barnsley match as a way of relieving some stress and just let go. I felt pretty okay after Dirk Kuyt scored, but was still disturbed by Liverpool's difficulty to find a second goal. It didn't go to plan, Barnsley didn't read the script, and after an equaliser by Barnsley, their skipper Brian Howard silenced the whole of Liverpool, except for the 6,000 plus Barnsley fans, who probably had their moments of their lives. Somehow, everyone was wondering how Liverpool would cope with the almighty Italian leaders, unbeaten in 30 games, Internazionale.
Liverpool got their answer at Anfield yesterday morning. After Marco Materazzi got sent off for a double shirt-pulling foul on Fernando Torres, the initiative was with Liverpool, and it was evident in the second half, when Inter goalie Julio Cesar was wasting quite a bit of time with his goal-kicks. Almost 2/3 of the possession, much build up play, but little to show for. On comes England striker Peter Crouch and winger Jermaine Pennant, and the difference was for all to see. The Reds' right flank was used more often, and both Steve Finnan and Pennant was causing the Inter left side a few problems.
Patrick Vieira should have been penalized for hand ball in the box, but it was not given. Finally the breakthrough came after Finnan chased a loose ball on the far right, laid it for Pennant to whip in a in-swinger. A little deep and hard was the cross that it evaded Torres and Crouch. It landed to left forward Kuyt's feet, and his deflected to the ground/bottom of Maicon's boot shot flatfooted Julio Cesar and Anfield finally erupted. A second goal just before 90 minutes from Steven Gerrard made it a deserved win for the Reds', and ended Internazionale's 30 game unbeaten run. Let me emphasis, 30. The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, who were on the high after FA Cup victories, especially United, could only get a fortunate 1-1 draw with Lyon, and aided by an injury-time goal by Carlos Tevez, which was also an away goal, and Chelsea could only draw 0-0 with one of the weakest teams left in the Champions League, Greek club Olympiakos.
A nice win to end of this trying period for me. Really morale-booster. And it wasn't all about luck. There's still a job for the Reds' to do at the San Siro in three weeks time. And don't be surprised to see Rafa deploy a 4-5-1 frustration formation.
Substitutes (Probable): 30 Charles Itandje _ 37 Martin Skrtel _ 3 Steve Finnan _ 14 Xabi Alonso _ 21 Lucas Leiva _ 19 Ryan Babel _ 15 Peter Crouch
So Liverpool, on the back of a heartbreaking injury time lost to Championship outfit Barnsley in the FA Cup, do battle with the best side in Italy, Inter Milan. I can predict that boss Rafa Benitez will opt for a 4-4-2 that can switch to a 4-4-1-1 type of formation to try to pack the midfield and stifle Inter's. The return of the spine of Liverpool's team should be well-equipped mentally do deal with Inter Milan.
Spine number 1 Jose Reina will definitely start in goal after substitute goalie Charles Itandje's poor showing at the weekend. Spine number 2 Jamie Carragher will definitely keep his place, but alongside who? Sami Hyypia for experience, or Martin Skrtel for a little bit more pace? In any case, two of those three will have to deal with the threat of Swedish hotshot Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I'm going with Hyypia, but Liverpool will have to play a little deeper. John Arne Riise should start at the left back position as he has the sufficient pace to deal with the likes of Dejan Stankovic and Luis Figo. Alvaro Arbeloa should fill in after a poor showing from Steve Finnan.
Spine number 3 and number 4 are skipper Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano. Gerrard will be looking to cause Patrick Vieira and Esteban Cambiasso some problems, whilst Mascherano will have to help the back-four deal with Figo, Stankovic, Luis Jimenez, Ibrahimovic and David Suazo. Jermaine Pennant should start to add natural width and try to trouble Brazilian full-back Maxwell, while Yossi Benayoun, the only real quality consistent starter for Liverpool, should start at left wing, and be able to cut in to cause Inter skipper Javier Zanetti some problems.
Spine number 5 Fernando Torres will almost definitely start if he is not injured. He'll be looking to trouble Marco Materazzi with his pace. Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt will be battling to start in the other forward berth, and I think Kuyt will get it as Rafa would want to be able to switch to a 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 while being without the ball.
Crouch should come off the bench should he be needed, to add some height to give a different challenge to deal with for Inter's defence. Ryan Babel will also come on if more pace is required up front or on the wings. Xabi Alonso's passing ability will hopefully still be within him, and will come on if an extra person is required to defend a lead around after the 70th-minute mark. Finnan and Skrtel will be emergency only and if Rafa wants to defend a lead.
C'mon Reds!!
Bye~!
my thoughts at 6:07 pm
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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my thoughts at 3:36 pm
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Happy Chinese New Year to one and all... And also it must be quite a good thing that it is here, since it's after the first prelim exams. Everyone must be getting a good, and for most, well-deserved rest, and of course, hoping for good results to bestow us in the following week of unfolding results. So good luck everyone for the prelim results and enjoy the long weekend yeah.
England 2-1 Switzerland England won at Wembley 2-1 against Switzerland. A decent first win for Italian boss Fabio Capello. Let's not get carried away, shall we? Didn't England thrash Greece by around 4 goals during Steve McClaren's first game? Anyway, Capello did well to give fringe internationals like the likes of Wes Brown, Matthew Upson, David James, Jermaine Jenas and David Bentley a start. His fluid 4-5-1 to 4-3-3 and back formation was quite nice to see, with Jenas and skipper Steven Gerrard taking turns to bomb forward. Overall an okay performance for England.
Saudi Arabia 2-0Singapore A respectable performance by Singapore in the end, even when they lost the game. It was, in the end, just the quality finishing of the Saudi attackers that did it for the Middle Eastern side. A lack of pace amongst central defenders Baihakki and Precious also led to the two goals, something they have to work on. Singapore had their chances through defensive midfielder Mustafic, attacking midfielder John Wilkinson and striker Alexander Duric. One can see that Raddy Avramovic is trying to play out a European 4-4-2 formation, with a big-small front men partnership, with Mustafic the defensive midfield, and partnering Duric with pacey forward Khairul Amri. There's still much to work on, especially the defence.
And it's Chelsea vs Liverpool this weekend... And things are not looking good for Liverpool.
Substitutes (Probable): 30 Charles Itandje _ 37 Martin Skrtel _ 21 Lucas Leiva _ 7 Harry Kewell _ 18 Dirk Kuyt
So Liverpool are going to be without six key players for this match. Six. Yes, 6. Those are the oh so useless Andriy Voronin, ever injured Fabio Aurelio, utility man Alvaro Arbeloa, just ten more days since dunno when Daniel Agger, who are all injured, including Xabi Alonso suspended. But the most significant, as most already know, is star striker Fernando Torres. This will significantly deplete Liverpool's strike force to the bare minimum.
Rafa Benitez has to win this game, to get a mainstay in fourth place, meaning, he has to be a little positive. Peter Crouch and Ryan Babel should start upfront, one utilizing his height, and the other, utilizing his pace to get behind the Chelsea defence. They should be supported by Jermaine Pennant, whose crosses can be so deadly for the height of Crouch, and Yossi Benayoun, whose trickery and creativity will be needed to get pass Belletti or Ashley Cole. Harry Kewell does not merit a place due to his form. Do it the Capello way, Benitez!
Steven Gerrard should get his place in the team alongside Javier Mascherano, now that Alonso is confirmed unfit, or injured. Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise has to play at the full-backs, as Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio are injured. Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia should be the preferred partnership at central defence, unless Rafa springs a surprise and pops in Martin Skrtel with Carragher. Jose Reina to start in goal. This formation allows Benitez to go from a 4-4-2, to a 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1, and maybe into a 4-2-3-1. Such fluidity is necessary to play Chelsea out of the park, and hopefully win the game.
Bye~!
my thoughts at 7:53 pm
Saturday, February 02, 2008
We all thought that this season's Liverpool's squad in August was probably one of the better ones and could strongly challenge for the title, right up till at least April. Well, the Reds are now 17 points adrift of the leaders, essentially needing to win the rest of their games and hope Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal lose at least 6 games, which is never going to happen considering Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor at their respective clubs. So these Liverpool players, why have they disappointed? Simply, they lacked quality, except for a few, even then those few stars have let Liverpool down.
Goalkeepers Jose Reina has been first choice for most of the campaign, with Charles Itandje his deputy and plays mostly in the English cups. Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar has definitely been better in terms of his command and composed goalkeeping, deputy Tomasz Kuszczak looks a better goalkeeper than Itandje. Chelsea's Petr Cech has probably been the best among the Top4's goalkeepers, and Carlo Cudicini isn't very bad either, and could easily walk into some Premier League team. Arsenal's Manuel Almunia has been Arsene Wenger's number one over the majority of this season, but he looks the worst of the Top4. Deputy Jens Lehmann, who cannot get a game, seems to be just on equal ability with Almunia currently. Current Ratings: Cech 9, van der Sar 8.5, Reina 8.0, Almunia 7.5, Lehmann 7.3, Kuszczak 7.3, Cudicini 7.3, Itandje 6.8
Central Defenders Jamie Carragher has been the usual rock, but not quite as good as he was last season. Daniel Agger hasn't played much, so in terms of ability, he is still quite good. Sami Hyypia has filled in well for Agger, but his lacking of pace has sometimes cost Liverpool dear. New-signing Martin Skrtel has not looked impressive yet. Man Utd's Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic has been a defensive rock at the heart of the defence. Back-up center-backs like Gerard Pique currently looks quite decent. Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho has shown above his other defensive colleagues at Stamford Bridge, with John Terry still as good as ever. Alex looks like a good buy and have an eye for rampaging forward, whilst Tal Ben-Haim does not look very impressive. Arsenal's pacey duo of Kolo Toure and William Gallas has been very impressive in the center of defence. Phillipe Senderos has looked very lacking when deputizing. Current Ratings: Vidic 9.5, Toure 9.4, Gallas 9.4, Ferdinand 9.3, Carvalho 9.3, Terry 9.0, Carragher 8.8, Alex 7.9, Hyypia 7.5, Agger 7.5, Ben-Haim 7.3, Pique 7.3, Senderos 7.2, Skrtel 6.5
Wide Defenders Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise and Fabio Aurelio haven't look impressive this season. Probably only Alvaro Arbeloa has done well consistently over the course of this season. Man Utd's Wes Brown has been deputizing for the ever-injured Gary Neville well, whilst Patrice Evra has been a revelation at left-back. John O'Shea looks alright whilst Neville's injury has stopped him from playing for quite a while. Chelsea's Juliano Belletti looks to have solved the Blues' right-back problems for the short-term, whilst Ashley Cole still looks impressive, with Wayne Bridge capable of filling in. Paulo Ferreira looks like their weakest link here. Arsenal's new-signing of Bakary Sagna has looked good at right-back, whilst Gael Clichy continue to excel at left, with Armand Traore impressing in the cup matches. Current Ratings: Evra 9.0, Clichy 8.5, Cole 8.5, Sagna 8.0, Brown 7.9, Belletti 7.5, Arbeloa 7.5, Bridge 7.3, O'Shea 7.3, Finnan 7.0, Aurelio 7.0, Traore 6.7, Riise 6.5, Ferreira 6.3, Neville 6.0
Central Midfielders Steven Gerrard has had a generally good season so far, except for a few blips in form. Javier Mascherano has looked impressive, whilst Alonso has had a stop-start campaign. Lucas looks impressive during his few games played. Man Utd's Owen Hargreaves looks like a great signing, Michael Carrick has been having a decent season, whilst another new-signing, Andersen has impressed so far. Fringe player Darren Fletcher and the injured Paul Scholes have only played a few games, due to different reasons. Chelsea's Michael Essien has ever-impressed again, with Frank Lampard and Jon Obi Mikel the other regulars. Claude Makelele and Michael Ballack have in recent months gotten more and more starts, whilst Steve Sidwell looks to have been signed just as a substitute. Arsenal's Francesc Fabregas has been excellent, and Mathieu Flamini is the definite unsung hero. Abou Diaby and Gilberto Silva are the back-ups. Current Ratings: Essien 9.5, Hargreaves 9.3, Fabregas 9.0, Gerrard 8.9, Lampard 8.5, Mascherano 8.3, Andersen 8.3, Flamini 8.3, Carrick 8.0, Mikel 7.5, Ballack 7.5, Lucas 7.5, Alonso 7.3, Makelele 7.3, Diaby 7.3, Scholes 7.3, Sidwell 7.0, Gilberto 7.0, Fletcher 6.7
Wingers Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel looks good in their first season at Liverpool. Harry Kewell's season is quite decent whilst Jermaine Pennant has much to improve on following his injury. Man Utd's Cristiano Ronaldo has been a revelation again, currently the league's top scorer with 19 goals. New-signing Nani has not disappoint and Ryan Giggs' experience still vital for United. Park Ji-Sung's return of injury means he hasn't really played much. Chelsea's Florent Malouda, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips have been almost equally in good form for the Blues. Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue looks good after moving upfield this season. Tomas Rosicky and Alex Hleb has improved from last season. Current Ratings: Ronaldo 9.9, Malouda 8.7, Cole 8.5, Hleb 8.3, Wright-Phillips 8.0, Nani 8.0, Rosicky 8.0, Benayoun 8.0, Giggs 7.9, Babel 7.7, Eboue 7.5, Kewell 7.3, Pennant 7.0, Park 6.5
Forwards Fernando Torres has been Liverpool's best striker, and one of the buys of the season. Andriy Voronin and Dirk Kuyt has massively disappointed, with Peter Crouch probably the next striker in line if he had more games. Man Utd's Wayne Rooney has scored many and assisted equally as much. Carlos Tevez also looks a good loan signing with his fair share of goals. Louis Saha looks one of the few disappointments of Man Utd's season. Chelsea's Didier Drogba has continued to score many goals, Andriy Shevchenko has tried to improve, whilst Claudio Pizzaro still looks quite crappy. New-signing Nicolas Anelka looks like a force to be reckon with. Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor has scored more than he was expected to this season. Robin van Persie's injuries has stopped him from playing much. Eduardo da Silva, after a slow start, seem to be quite good. Current Ratings: Drogba 8.9, Rooney 8.9, Torres 8.7, Adebayor 8.7, Tevez 8.5, Anelka 8.3, van Persie 8.0, Eduardo 7.7, Shevchenko 7.5, Crouch 7.5, Kuyt 7.3, Pizzaro 7.0, Saha 6.5, Voronin 6
So the apparent lack of quality in the whole Liverpool squad, Rafa Benitez's continuous tinkering, changing weak players for even weaker ones in games he should not, the owner's mismanagement and lack of support and funding for the gaffer, including trying to appoint Jurgen Klinsmann, and finally quite lacking of luck... Has caused Liverpool's title race to end abruptly.
my thoughts at 1:49 pm
Friday, February 01, 2008
Steven Gerrard. Better at right midfield?
I really don't know about this. In Rafa Benitez's first two seasons, he preferred to employ Steven Gerrard on the right of midfield. He would not be a winger however, but more like a right-sided attacking midfielder, who would be allowed to cut in. This would allow Benitez to put the likes of Momo Sissoko, Dietmar Hamann or Javier Mascherano to partner the more consistently picked Xabi Alonso. Gerrard then scored around 20+ goals during Benitez's first season, and scored pretty much in the second. However, during the course of those two seasons, many criticized Benitez for doing so, including myself, for putting Gerrard on the right, when he was definitely one of the best central midfielders.
But now, I guess that it's probably better putting Gerrard on the right, instead of the center of midfield. Benitez has been trying to fit Gerrard in, by playing him just behind the main striker in a 4-5-1, which has clearly not worked on several occasions in which he attempted so. With Gerrard on the right, he's allowed to bomb forward more and can choose between a central or wide position to start from or end to. And in doing so, two defensive minded players like Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano can hold the midfield. Mascherano can just sit in front of the back four whilst Alonso plays in a more forward playmaking role. Alonso will be able to play his passes and split open the tightest of defences. Gerrard's defending prioritise will be minimized as when he goes forward, Alonso or Mascherano can pull to the right a little bit to cover for him and the right back. This in turn allows Gerrard to fully utilize his ability.
Putting Jermaine Pennant, Yossi Benayoun or Ryan Babel there on a regular basis is not working. Pennant is too poor a winger, so there's no point in having a winger currently. Benayoun and Babel will cut in most of the time. So by putting Gerrard there, there would not be much of a difference, but the efficiency and skill level there will be much higher than having the former three playing there.
Momo Sissoko moves to Juventus
Unfortunately, Mohamed Sissoko's Liverpool career had to end like this. What a bright start he had, to be honest. Blazing the Premiership and playing superbly well in his first season. He's hustle and bustle, ruthless tackles and sublime stamina made him a fan's favourite. But after his eye injury against Benfica, he had not looked the same. He's decent passing deserted him, and he kept giving the ball away cheaply. So I guess a £8 million move to Italian giant Juventus might be a good move for him. But by the way he's performing now, I don't know why Juventus wants him or what they see in him currently. A good business deal for Liverpool, who can now tie up the Javier Mascherano deal on a permanent basis. There are rumours it's a done deal, but Liverpool themselves deny it.
3 Steve Finnan ______________________________________ 6 John Arne Riise
14 Xabi Alonso ____ 20 Javier Mascherano
8 Steven Gerrard (C) ______________________________________ 11 Yossi Benayoun
15 Peter Crouch ______ 9 Fernando Torres
Substitutes (Probable): 30 Charles Itandje _ 37 Martin Skrtel _ 12 Fabio Aurelio _ 19 Ryan Babel _ 18 Dirk Kuyt
So what a week for Liverpool. Losing to West Ham United in injury time just because of a penalty, and Jose Reina also almost saved it too. Now Liverpool fans have established Share Liverpool FC, in a bid to get up to 100,000 fans to fund a takeover from co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette. An annual £30 million interest payment must be paid also, which is quite crappy, just to get £350 million loan funding from the bank. So now the title for this year is over again, and the fight is now on for fourth place. Disgusting. Utterly disgusting.
Reina should start in goal again against Sunderland. Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise should play in defence. I just dunno when Daniel Agger will return, Liverpool badly need him. After the dismal showing of the likes of Harry Kewell and Jermaine Pennant, and that Ryan Babel can only be an impact substitute for the most of this season, I feel Steven Gerrard should be pushed to the right hand side of midfield to allow Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano to play through the center. Yossi Benayoun, the only decent winger in Liverpool currently, should start on the left, with Babel coming on in the latter stages of the game.
Please. PLEASE!! Let Peter Crouch get a run of games and he'll show you what he's made of!! Play him alongside Fernando Torres and I'm sure Torres will benefit from his height and knock-downs.