Sami signs off as reds slam Spurs

It's always sad when a legend leaves. So it was for Sami who left Anfield after 10 fantastic years. The friendly Finn made 464 appearances for the Reds and won just about every medal going bar the league. Rafa brought him on here in the dying minutes for Gerrard and he took the captains armband. He even had a header cleared off the line which would have been epic. You could see how much it meant to him when the players hoisted him shoulder high and the emotion of it got to him . I respect his decision to go and play but I hope that he'll return to join the coaching staff when he's finished in Germany.

The game itself almost seemed of secondary importance to Sami's swansong. Torres opened the scoring with a fine header from a Kuyt cross. Deadly Dirk took the second but was helped with a large deflection off Hutton. Yossi rounded off the goals with a cheeky effort. He has such quick feet that players buy his feints and dummies but now that he has a few months of form and confidence behind him, they are coming off and he has become extremely deadly. Keane scored a consolation goal for Spurs and didn't celebrate which was nice to see. It didn't work out for him at Anfield but I don't have any ill feelings towards him. He was the wrong buy but that's not his fault. Maybe if he'd scored more he'd still be here but I doubt it. I think he took away from our best XI rather than added to it.

Gaz Baz continues to be linked with a move to L4 just as consistantly as Alonso is being linked with a return to Spain. Rafa was asked about it post match and said:

"Xabi has three years on his contract and we're really pleased with him. We do not want to sell. He is not for sale. He says he's happy here in Liverpool. He says it to you in every single interview and press conference."

Oliver Kay in the Times reckons that we're going to open formal negotiations with Tevez after the champions league final. Sky are linking Youann Gourcouff who did really well on loan from AC Milan to Boureaux this season. Mascherano says that he would like to be reunited with Tevez. If this report is to be believed, we've had a €20m bid rejected by Napoli. He's a really exciting player and could be credible alternative to Tevez or Silva and might be easier to capture.

I'll put together a season review in the next few days but then it'll be hibernation on the blog for the summer. I may do an occasional post if we have a big signing but you can check out the twitter feed for brief updates.

Costly defeat

Out of the cup, quel dommage. Good goal by Rodwell for the winner but what an appalling match? Both teams were shit but Everton were better once Luas got his second yellow. While I don't really care too much about the FA cup this year, we'll be counting the cost for a while. Firstly our captain came off injured after 15 mins on Wed. He's out for 3 weeks and the gaffa is worried. Luckily, there is an international break in that time so he should be back in time for the Real Madrid game.

Secondly the players had to play 120 mins which won't leave them feeling fresh ahead of the Portsmouth match on Saturday evening. Torres didn't have a great match but is regaining fitness after his lay off so I'm hoping we see the Chelsea Nino, rather than the Everton one. In fairness to Jagielka, he played well and shackled Torres by and large.

Rafa reckons he has enough attacking options without Keane. That may be true while Torres stays fit but if he breaks down then we're screwed. He did hint that the likes of Nemeth and Pacheco may get a look in at some stage. Degen, not for the first time this year, is injured and dare I say it, not for the last time either. I would like to actually have a look at him play some time. If he can't make an appearance by the summer he should get shipped out.

The myth that our full backs "never cross the halfway line" (TM Andy Gray), seems to have become an accepted fact by the masses. Funny how we saw both Aurelio and Arbeloa rampaging down both wings against Chelsea. Aurelio put in the cross for Torres goal and has four assists in the league which compares favorably with any other full back. I'll wager that this figure would be higher if he hadn't been injured for a while.

It's interesting to hear that we failed in a bid to sign Kerrison in Jan. He's a player that we've been linked to in the past but he has a complicated third party ownership contract which made any transfer very difficult. Spurs tried to offer us one of Jenas, Bently or Bale in part exchange for Robbie. Bently would have been useful as an option for the right but he seems to be a complete knobend and I don't know if he would have fit in. Fans and players don't have a very high regard for him. Anybody who rocks the dressing room boat doesn't last long at Anfield i.e. Bellamy.

Xabi says that he's going nowhere for the duration of his contract. So we can look forward to watching the maestro for the next 3 years at least.

It looks like Rafa is trying to rob Barca. The object of his attempted larceny is none other than Gerard Deulofeu, a 14 year old prospect. He too could follow in Pacheco's footsteps. Speaking of the underagers, Ince, Pepper and co beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA youth cup last night. Let's hope they can repeat the success of Spearing's team a few years back.

Keane kops out

Rafa's going anywhere after a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield. Robbie's going somewhere. Spurs to be exact.

But first to the game, and what a game it was. I found it absorbing. Granted I'm biased, but I really enjoy watching the cut and thrust of these games. This was much more one sided than Chelsea games in recent times as they brought nothing to the party bar some superb defending from Alex and Terry to a lesser degree.

We were well on top before Fat Frank was sent off but Chelsea sat back even more when they went a man down. Admittedly, it was a harsh sending off but it was evened up by Bosingwa evading a Red for stamping on Yossi's back right under the linesman nose. Rafa tightened the screw on Chelsea's ten men by taking Javier off for Babel. Alonso had an effort tipped onto the bar by Cech and there were two efforts cleared off the line. Gerrard looked to be in the mood for it but blotted his copybook by diving and getting booked for it.

El Nino showed he's back in form with two strikes in the dying minutes. The first was a near post header where Torres showed his superb movement to get ahead of Alex and get on the end of a fine cross from Fabio on the left. Cech was shit all match and won't have been happy to get beaten at the near post. Yossi caused havoc when he came on and set up the second by getting free of the defence to advance on goal only for Cole to block it into Fernando's path for a tap in.

Pre match, Scolari gave Rafa his backing over the criticism of Fergie and the behavior of Refs at Old Toilet. He was magnanamous post match and admitted "Liverpool were better than us all game".
Nando reckons that Gerrard is better than Lampard. Me too.

Post match Rafa said that Robbie is going nowhere. 24 hours later, he's re signed for Spurs. The fee is £16m up to a potential £19m depending on appearances and success, which is the same fee Liverpool agreed to pay last year. I feel sorry for him as it hasn't worked out but I feel it's the best for both parties that he leave, as he doesn't fit into our best XI. He'll be back to top dog status at Spurs while he was always going to be behind El Nino in the pecking order here. I would have liked to see it work out, but I won't miss the circus that his selection/substitution had become. The questions and media focus it attracted became very tedious. No replacement was brought in but young Nemeth may step up when he comes back from injury. He is on loan but hopefully he can be recalled.

The FA cup continues to distract this midweek with a visit to Goodison. I couldn't care less about it. I wouldn't mind, or be surprised if he rests many of the senior team. It's always nice to beat them but we're in a great position in the league so lets go for it.

The Toon tried to sign Sami. Rafa was unwilling to let him go which is great. He's done well when called upon this year and is included in the champions league squad this time around.

Hopefully Rafa will get his contract sorted with the Yanks in town this week. Lots of the knee jerkers who turned against him over recent weeks will be annoyed to see the boss sign on, but I will be thrilled. He's the man for the job in my view. I don't know if we'll win the league this year, and we probably won't as Utd are deserved favourites. But we're in there giving it our best and I expect we'll keep plugging away until May. If we win in Old toilet then you never know. A fit and firing Torres could make all the difference, especially in those annoying draws against obstinate defences. If he gets injured we're in deep doo-doo.

Lucas laments at Latics late leveler

LUCAS! What was he thinking? I was mucho pissed off when he conceded the peno last night. It finished 1-1 because yet again, our inability to score a second goal gives the opposition hope and let's them throw everything at us in the last few minutes, know that a point is there for the taking. We must have no toes left after shooting ourselves in the foot so often.

Yossi did fantastically well to score from such a narrow angle after beating the keeper and had a good game all round. In fact, he could and should have had a second when he made mince meat of the defence but couldn't beat the goalie. I was glad to see him come into the team as Dirk has been at nothing in recent weeks.

Torres looked off form and never really got into the game. Despite that, he did manage to put a header onto the post and had a few shots and half chances in the first half. He did nothing in the second and looked knackered again at the end. It may be a while yet before he can contribute 90 mins. Gerrard had a half volley near the end and a free kick before half time that were close. Babel didn't do much but Lucas had a decent match until his moment of madness. There was no need for that penalty to be conceded as the Wigan player wasn't even going towards goal.
Chelsea on Sunday sounds pretty daunting given our inability to score and win a game now. They were wobbly themselves for a while but seemed to have steadied the ship with their last two or three matches. We'll need to see more from El Nino and our Captain than we saw last night. Big game for Javier too, but it's the kind of occasion that he loves and thrives in.

Sky are reporting today that Keane is a Spurs target and they've sounded LFC out over a possible return. I think that any deal could only be in the form of a loan. To be honest, I would be surprised if this happens now. Even though he doesn't fit into our best XI, I doubt Rafa would be willing to let anybody leave the squad at this stage without a suitable replacement. But the Keane experiment has been a failure and I think he should be shipped out in the summer. We could do with a quality match winner for our right hand flank to chip in with goals, threat pace and movement from the right hand side. Dirk has his qualities but doesn't have much in that regard.

More evidence of why Parry must go, courtesy of Anfield Online. We risk losing Agger for a pittance due to procrastination.

Both Gabriele Marcotti in the Times and a Man Utd blog called stretford-end.com examine the zonal marking system we employ and discover that the myth doesn't match the facts. Andy Gray and co could do with reading these articles. Here's an extract.Quite frankly, that Liverpool are poor at defending set pieces has become the biggest falsehood since it was claimed that Chesney Hawkes was the future of music.
The truth is that Liverpool only conceded from two corners all last season, both coming in Premiership games (Chelsea away and Everton at home). In total the Reds faced 137 corners in the league, meaning Benítez's men conceded on just 1.5 per cent of them. Only one team, Chelsea, were able to come even close to that, allowing three goals from 127 (2.4 per cent).n terms of goals conceded from free-kicks delivered into the box, Liverpool also allowed only two in the Premiership all season, again one less than Chelsea. So the Reds conceded one-third fewer league goals than the next-best team when defending set-pieces.

A spate of youngsters have left on loan in the last week and Mikel San Jose is the latest to join them. The 19 year old centre back is going to Atletico Bilbao for the rest of the season. Those who watch the reserves regularly like this kid so it should be a good opportunity for him to prove he has the quality to step up to the next level with the first team in August. The official site have a chat with Spanish kid Daniel Pacheco. He is one of the youngsters who is tipped to make an impact here.

Charles Itanje wants to leave Anfield. I don't think that anybody is going to stand in his way. Cavalieri has looked far superior to the French keeper this season.

Same score, different game

The BBC had a look back at another FA cup tie between the Blues and Reds. In 1986 it was the toffees who lost out as King Kenny and co went on to clinch the double. This time the score was 1-1 in what was an absorbing cup tie, from a red perspective.

It was like a training ground exercise of attack v defence. Everton offered practically nothing going forward but still managed to score a set piece goal against us, again. We really need to tighten up on that aspect. Once more it was lil' TIMMY! Cahill who did the damage. He managed to flick the ball on and Lescott applied the final touch which confounded Pepe. On the plus side it was a much improved performance from Monday. I could watch this stunning peice of skill by El Nino for the Gerrard goal over and over again. He is a god among men. Dossena had a good game, rampaging down the left flank. In fairness to him, it was his best performance for us, but that's not saying much, and he didn't have to deal with much when defending. Everton were engaged in blatent time wasting, well before half time. It was heartening to see us break down such a packed defence with 11 behind the ball, but unfortunately, we only did so once. On the down side, we didn't kill them off and will have to do it all again in a few weeks time. Neither Dirk nor Babel offered much, despite seeing much of the ball.

Could Robbie be on his way out of Anfield less than 6 months after he joined? The Irish Indo links him with a move to Man City for £20m. 'Arry was also declaring that he would like to have Robbie back at Spurs. There appears to have been a bit of a bust up when Rafa left him out of the squad at the weekend. It's hard to know what the story is here. I'm sure there's more to it than meets the eye but it doesn't look good for his long term future in L4.The italian media suggest that Ranieri at Juve is interested in Deadly Dirk. I can't see Rafa selling him as he's always one of the first names on the team sheets. I like Dirk but we can do better. Somebody like Yohan Gourcuff or Jeremy Menez would give us much greater penetration on the right flank. I would be inclined to keep Dirk for what he brings to the squad and he's great for tough away matches but adds less against the obstinate small teams at Anfield. Last weekend I was in Milan and visited the San Siro to see AC Milan beat Fiorentina 1-0. Given the controversy over the proposed sale of Kaka to Man City, there was an incredible atmosphere. We saw numerous banners and heard explosions and almost 70k chanting in unison. It was louder than any other sporting experience I've had by quite a bit. It was also quite a bit louder than any visit I've made to Anfield. Now, I've only been to one champions league match at Anfield, this year against Marseille, but it was a fairly sedate atmosphere. The Milanese people I met asked me about Anfield and the atmosphere and how it compared but I had to admit that the San Siro had beaten it hands down.

There is another youth feature on "A Liverpool thing". This time Vincent Weijl, the dutch winger comes under focus. Jordy Brouwer has gone on loan to Waalwijk for the rest of the season. From what I've read about the former Ajax striker playing for the reserves, I hope he doesn't return. Two more young strikers, Nemeth and Lindfield have left on loan. It will be interesting to see if Nemeth can make an impact at Blackpool in the championship given how highly he's rated.

Takeover talk has started again. This time it's the Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi who's talking to Hicks and Gillett. They want £550 million for the club. But towards the end of the week, this deal was said to have died a death.I wonder if this is just talk to try and get Dubai into a bidding war? The Guardian suggest that Sheikh Maktoum is still interested, at the right price. I hope that he drives a hard bargain in the summer and takes over from Hicks and Gillett.

It seems that the thieving scousers stereotype is a little outdated. Bad news for manchester.

Reds dump Deepdale

2-0 and through to the next round is the headline but there are some interesting sub plots.

First, after being clinical against Newcastle and Bolton, we returned to our normal form this season where we create lots of chances but refuse to take them, letting the opposition back into the game. We made countless chances in the first half and should have been out of sight. I'm afraid to say that Keane was the main culprit here and had a string of embarrassing misses. It's not the the first time this year and I won't be drawing any conclusions from it but it's about time he got his act together and started taking simple chances. But, as he himself has said, let's judge him at the end of the season in May.

Secondly, Torres returned with a goals after coming off the bench. Good man Nando. Stevie unselfishly set him up after Babel had released the pair on goal with a flicked header. Great to see El Nino back in competitive action.

Thirdly, Alonso came off injured with his leg in a cast. There is no word yet on how long he'll be out for but it didn't look good. Luckily Lucas stepped into the breach and did well, but while he's improving, he's no Xabi. Who is?

Lastly, there were contrasting performances from the wingers. Riera was superb after a slow start and was a menace down the flank. He took his goal really well and set up Keane for what should have been another. In contrast, Babel was quite ineffective. I'm starting to think that he's finished at Anfield. He hasn't progressed this year and I fear Rafa will move him on in the summer. He doesn't appear to have the desire to stake a claim to a spot in the team and I can't see Rafa picking a half hearted player ahead of a less talented but more committed player like Dirk. I hope Ryan proves me wrong. We've drawn Everton in the next round which is a bit of a kick in the teeth but we've shown we are capable of beating them easily enough over the last few seasons. To be honest, I would swap a cup exit for three points against them in the league at Anfield the week before.

It's back to the bread and butter of the league when the leaders visit the potteries to face Stoke this Saturday. They managed to frustrate us with a scoreless draw at Anfield and I'm sure Rafa and co will want revenge. This time we should have Torres back in the saddle. The fact that United face Chelsea at the weekend if a huge boost for us. A draw there or even a Chelsea win would please me greatly.
Pennant wants to go to Spain. To Atletico perhaps? I'm happy enough to see him leave for any club as he won't contribute anything for the rest of the season.

Lucas thanks Rafa for backing him. As mentioned above, the kid has improved a lot in recent games. He'll have a good chance to build on this in matches to come if Xabi is badly injured.

Icelandic midfielder Victor Palsson who plays for Aarhaus is being linked with a move to L4. It should get sorted sometime over the month.

Premier league 80% won?

Three and easy would sum up the Bolton game. Robbie continued his form from the Arsenal match and scored two lovely goals, after Riera had opened the scoring. The boss was back in the stands after his operation, to preside over the beating. We're still top of the table at the halfway point, have the second best goal difference and all is rosy in the Anfield garden. How's that for festive cheer?

The team was set up somewhat differently to recent home matches. Javier sat on the bench and Dirk was put up beside Robbie. Riera and Yossi pushed on from the flanks, assisted by Insua, who was outstanding at left back again, and Carragher from the right. Xabi and Stevie were able to pull the strings in the middle. And it it worked like clockwork. I think this has proved that we need to commit the extra attacker against unambitious teams at home. Javier is fantastic but not really need in these games. I'm sure that he'll be back in the team against Newcastle on Sunday.
Will Rafa feel the need to mix it up with two games in 72 hours? In the past he definitely would have. One change that nobody will argue with is seeing Torres take a place on the bench. Rumour has it that he's ready and raring to go. About time, in fairness. We've missed him in all of our draws but I think the decision to leave him until he was right, was the correct decision. Newcastle lost to Wigan in their last match and they're a bit flakey but nowhere near the pushover that they were before Kinnear came in. He's put some backbone and fight into them. Let's hope that we don't see an Owen headline for the wrong reasons on Monday.

Voronin may make his move to Hertha Berlin permanent. Another player on loan has been doing well for his club Olympiakos. Watch Seb Leto score a great goals when he picks the ball up in his own half and runs the length of the pitch before scoring a belter.

Xabi had an interview in the daily mail which you can read here. Johnathon Wilson discusses our tactics and Rafa's manipulation of space, both at Valencia and now at Anfield. He's an interesting writer and his book on tactics is reputed to be a great read.

The Mirror suggest that Celtic have made a bid for Pennant who Madrid want too. I can't see him going anywhere as he can go for free if he stays until the summer. Meanwhile, the daily Mail think that AC Milan are after Dossena.

Red Robbie guns Gooners

Good man Robbie. Not bad for the €20m flop that he's been labeled. It was an astounding finish, not one from a player who has looked out of form and short on confidence at times this year. Together with van Persie's strike, there were some great goals on show for the neutral. 1-1 keeps us top but with Chelsea facing Everton, we'll need the toffees to do us a favour in order to stay there.

With Rafa back on his sick bed after his operation, Sammy Lee was the boss. He was disappointed with the draw. As was I Sammy. The win was there for the taking after the red card to Adebayor. John Giles on RTE said that the red card was fully justified for a studs up over the ball challenge which would have broken Arbeloas leg if it had made full contact. Graham Taylor on BBC 5live said it should have been a straight red. But our team seemed to respond negatively to the boon and Arsenal fought like Lions to preserve parity. Fair play to them but I think we could have caught them if we really pushed hard enough. We had them on the rack for most of the second half. We were the better team overall and created some great chances but as per usual this season, we didn't make them count. I do feel that if we had a fit Torres then there would clear daylight between us and the chasing pack rather than a point or two.

Aurelio was still injured as was Dossena so Insua took the left back berth and made it his own. He was superb and my man of the match. It was a really impressive display from the 19 year old. He raided down the left and delivered some great crosses. I would be quite happy so see him get a run of games there now.

Another who stepped up was Lucas in the midfield. Javier was struck down with flu so the Blonde Brazilian came in and put it up to the Arsenal midfield. He did have a few hairy moments in the first half but improved as the game went on. He will be happy with himself after that. It probably helped him that Fabregas went off injured at half time. You do need to have a squad of quality players in order to compete at this level and Lucas is improving as our fourth choice midfielder. I hope the crowd give him a chance.It's time to bash Bolton on Stephen's day. They are the kind of team that we should be able to put away easily but we've struggled badly against this season. I expect Javier will be back but we could have an even great boost if El Nino is fit enough for a place on the bench. It's very important that he's right when he does return so I wouldn't be in favour of rushing him back for Bolton.

Slovak hero Martin Skrtel is back in training. Be prepared for premier league defenders to develop sudden injuries before kick off at the thought of facing mighty Martin. He could feature against Bolton on Stephen's day.

Riera admits that we've been nervous at Anfield this season. This is an area in which we really need to improve if we're going to win the league. We need to make teams fear us rather than us fearing dropping points against inferior opposition.

The Mirror speculates that Pennant may be on his way to White Heart lane in a player plus cash deal for Aaron Lennon. Given that he can leave for free in the summer, Pennant isn't worth much more than about £2-3m now. Glen Johnson is due to be sold in January as Portsmouth have massive debts and has been linked with a move to L4. He would be a good signing for us and would provide cover and competition for Arbeloa. He's improved since he went to Portsmouth and seems to have left his toilet problems behind him. Plus the fact that he's English helps with the law changes for homegrown players.

The Champions League draw matches us with Real Madrid for the first time since the 1981 final. This is a classic tie against two European heavyweights. It won't be easy but Real aren't in great form now. Ramos may make a difference and they seem to be spending a lot of cash in Jan.

This is why the Keane to Spurs speculation is rubbish. It goes against Premier League rules. That seems to have slipped the minds of some of the hard working journo's who've been stirring this story recently.

Richard Williams has a really badly written piece in the guaridan on Rafa's tenure at LFC, full of half truths and speculation. Does anybody else feel that standards are dropping at the Guardian or is it just the sports dept?

B team bonus

Abert Riera declared that he wanted us to finish the group stage in style. While he may have been disappointed with the first half, we certainly delivered in the second half, not least Riera himself who hit a stunning strike from distance. A 3-1 win away from home in the Champions League is always an achievement. When it's done without most of your first team regulars, that makes it even more impressive. The win made sure of top spot in the group on 14 points, which in theory should give us an easier draw on Friday 19th, but in reality the only bonus is the certainty that we play our second leg match at Anfield in the next round.

Robbie says he's going nowhere in Jan. I don't think that he was ever going to move, it was just paper talk. He was one of the notable performers last night in the second half and his through ball for N'Gog was sublime as was another where he set Lucas. He could have had a few goals if Babel and N'Gog had supplied him with the ball when he was in good positions. He came under some fire for his moaning over not receiving the ball but many premiership players do the same thing such as Gerrard now and Cantona in his day.

Lucas said that he wanted to repay the faith that Rafa has shown in him. The boss said that the Brazilian's performance was outstanding, as was that of N'Gog. Dossena built on his good showing against West Ham with another convincing performance at left full. Now we are starting to see some of the form that made him the Italian left back and Rafa pay £7m for him. Some of his crossing and attacking runs were fantastic.

It was great to see the Scouse kids getting a run out towards the end. I'm sure all of the academy players were looking on with pride when they saw their erstwhile team mates Darby, Kelly and Spearing, play in the worlds biggest club competition. I'm sure that Rafa will give them a chance in the FA cup if he feels it's worth the risk.Hull city represent tough test at Anfield this Saturday afternoon. We've seen too many teams park the bus and succeed in frustrating a scoreless draw out of us. We can't let this happen again. Fortunately, I don't think that Hull will pack their defence to the same degree which should leave gaps for us to exploit. Their ambition to do to us what they did to Arsenal could be their undoing. I expect the big guns who were rested v PSV, like Gerrard, Alonso and Kuyt, will come back for this league match, fitness permitting.

It sounds like Babel was so desperate for some more game minutes that he asked his agent to organise a loan back to his first club of Ajax. It was unsuccessful. One player who could be on his way to Holland could be Jordy Brower of the reserve team. Utrecht officials have mentioned him as a possible transfer target in Jan. I don't think that there would be too many tears shed if he were to return to his homeland as it would give the likes of Ince, Della Valle and others a chance to get a look in with the reserves.

Press reports suggest that contract talks between Rafa and the board have gone well and he'll sign a new 5 year deal in the next few days. This will be the most important signing of the season by far when it happens. Fingers crossed.

On the subject of new contracts, Galliani of AC Milan is denying comments attributed to him recently saying that he wanted to buy Danny Boy Agger. I really hope that Parry gets the finger out and signs him up to a new contract asap. This kid is a star and will be one of the best defenders in Europe in years to come. It will be a disgrace if we let him go on the cheap.

Ian Rush looks back on the career of Sami and declares him a red legend. It takes one to know one but I don't think that there would be any argument about Hyypia. Not bad for £2.5m almost 10 years ago.

Matt Hughes in the Times has a ridiculous piece on Rafa's transfers. There's so much wrong with this article that I don't know where to start. Journos have it easy, getting paid money to write shite like that. Hilarious.

Liverpool slip up - to the top

If I were Benitez I would be asking myself, what more do you want? We're a point clear at the top of the table. Before the season we were tipped to be the club to finish 5th by many pundits. Yet we lead the league and there were boos at Anfield last night. Tough crowd.

We created chances here but again failed to finish them off. This has been the problem against unambitious teams at home this year. They are well within their rights to play for a point, but we've made it too easy for them by not being clinical enough. Sami went very close with some headers and they cleared off the line twice. Green was in superb form and made some amazing saves. The ref and linesman seemed to ignore multiple handball offences from the left back which didn't help. If there's one area that we lack in, it's breaking down a packed defence. Often we have to rely on a moment of magic from Torres or Gerrard.

Rafa called on the team to show no fear. It's a fair point as we've looked nervous in quite a few of our recent matches. He's implored the fans to be supportive and patient. He obviously noticed it against OM, as I did sitting in the Main stand. The start of the match had a good atmosphere but it deteriorated in the second half and was flat by the end. The booing at the end of the West Ham took this to another level. Best fans in the world? Not in my book. Gerrard says they deserve a title. I hope it gets delivered.Rafa took time out to back Keane today. He's having a hard time of it at the moment but his on pitch moaning when he gets subbed isn't doing him any favours. Any player who isn't performing at a big club can expect to be subbed. Look at the Man Utd striker situation.

The victory over Marseille was achieved at a cost. Both Torres and Aurelio are out for a few weeks. We'll definitely miss El Nino. It's a chance for other players to step up. We'll need them to take the opportunity. Dossena did just that and was great last night. He had by far his best game for us and delivered dangerous crosses all game. If only some of the players could have got on the end of them. The news that Xabi is committing his future to the reds is a relief. Hopefully that is the end of the Barry story.

Blackburn are in poor form so we would really wanting to be doing them at Ewood park on Saturday. But then again, West Ham and Fulham had terrible away form when they came to Anfield and they both got draws out of it. I reckon we really need to improve on breaking down a packed defence. That is the one area where Arsenal, Chelsea and Utd are well ahead of us. Too often, we have to rely on a moment of magic from Torres or Gerrard to make the breakthrough.

Zola spoke of his respect for Carragher in the pre match press conference. I loved Zola as a player. I hope he does well in management except when he plays us.

I've heard the name Zuculini a few times recently. He's a young Argentine midfielder that ourselves and Utd are supposed to be after. One player who won't be arriving at Anfield is Michael Owen. Rafa ruled out a move this week. I don't think it would be a smart move considering his injuries and wages.

Mission accomplished

I know how to pick them don't I? That was a boring match to chose for my first game at Anfield this year. A 1-0 win assured qualification for the next round but it wasn't a game that will live long in my memory. Nice goal but a terrible performance.

The manager described the second half as scary. No argument. As has happened a few times this year, we should have put them away when we were dominant, and when we didn't get the killer second goal, we sat back and let them back into the game. It didn't help that Xabi and Javier were off form and didn't control the midfield as they usually do. Both players misplaced quite a few passes which is uncharacteristic.

Rafa has a few injury headaches ahead of the West Ham game on Monday. Torres and Aurelio are out for a few weeks. Dossena will come in at left back and will have to improve on his recent performances. Robbie will fill in for El Nino up top. It's going to be a good opportunity to get a run of games and establish himself. I'm hoping that he takes it with both hands.

Benitez is happy that Gerrard didn't react when hit by a lighter from the Marseille fans. Oli Kay in the times looks back at the captains 10 years since he made his debut as a sub against Blackburn.

Rafa says he expects to see more from Babel this season. We all do. He has so much talent that it'll be a crime if he doesn't make it. I think Rafa should give him more starts.

Tony Barrett in the Echo explores the academy and it's recent lack of first class graduates. Everton have had much more success then we have in recent times.

It appears as if Gerrard has taken up one the pastimes of the landed gentry, albeit with a LFC slant. Good ad.

Dublin double downs Bagies

Robbie's happy. Rafa's happy. The fans are happy after watching this. Back on top of the league and all is rosy in the red half of Merseyside.

Well done Keane lad. It's been a long time coming but two quality strikes from Robert gave us a glimpse of what's to come from him. We all knew that the talent was there and that the goals would follow sooner or later. It was a little bit later than I'd have liked but he had been playing well and setting up goals for others, while not scoring himself. He looked really up for it on Sat, even before he scored. Once the first went in, he got hungry for more. Gerrard fed him with a beautiful ball for the first goal. I would imagine that he was slightly disappointed to be subbed when on two goals but Torres needs game time and we know team comes first for Rafa.

So we're back on top with Chelsea. I had hoped that Blackburn might take something from them but that was always unlikely I suppose. Utd betting beaten by Arsenal was great news. They're 8 points off the top now which is significant, but not insurmountable.

It's Carling cup this week which always gets the pulses racing. Spurs will be up for it to try and maintain the momentum they've built up in the league. I expect we'll see some of the kids on reserves on display so we might be heading for a beating. As is always the case with the domestic cups, to win a bonus but to lose is never a disaster.It appear that Torres and Babel were busy while they were out injured. They've both opened business in Clapham, south London. Fine entrepreneurs.

Alonso is once again being linked with a move, this time Valencia are said to be the club sniffing around. He's been superb this season so I hope that Rafa decides to keep him at Anfield.

Dossena is unhappy with his own form. I do think there is room for improvement there but he has being showing signs of a gradual upturn in recent weeks. The left back spot is up for grabs now if he or Aurelio can put a consistent run of form together.

Rafa thinks Maradona will make the correct choice in giving Mascherano the armband. The legend himself visited Melwood on Fri and all of the players got their photos taken with him. No sign of those snaps anywhere yet.

El Zhar scored a fantastic goal for the reserves in a 2-1 defeat to City this week. Nathan Ecclestone scored a hat trick for the u-18s when they beat Bolton 5-0. Their next game is against City.

Kerrison, the young Brazilian striker, is being linked to us again. I don't know anything much about this kid bar hearing Tim Vickery talking about him on the BBC 5live world football phone in.

White heart pain

Ouch. That's gotta hurt. It does. Now I know how gooners felt after the 4-4 draw last week. Fairplay 'Arry and all that but we should have had this in the bag long before the end of the match. We hit the woodwork three times but didn't get the vital second goal. We aren't great at finishing teams off this season. By not establishing a 2 or 3 goals cushion, we give the opposition a chance to make a comeback. That was what happened here. I feel that if we had El Nino fit, he would have put at least one or two of the chances away. We were always going to suffer a poor result on the back of our best player being out. As it happened, we've managed to go on a fantastic run without him for most of the season so far.

Let's take stock. We're still joint top of the league, having beaten our two main rivals without our best player. That's more than almost every red would have hoped for at the start of the season. We've lost one game, not the league. Our next four games are West Brom, Bolton, Fulham and West Ham. Novembers have been black for us in the past but I'm hoping that we can move beyond that this year and get maximum points from those games to remain joint top, or better if Chelsea slip up.

Redknapp admits that they got lucky after being under the cosh for so long. I can't argue with him but it's a lot easier to be magnanimous after winning.

On the plus side, Torres should be back soon and we have a handy run of games coming up. Dossena had a good match and is slowly improving his form, although he should have done much better for the second goal. He has underwhelmed us so far but I hope he'll kick on to show us his Udinese and Italian international form in time. It was good to see Robbie and Dirk link up well for Dirks goal. He's scoring a lot more regularly this year which is great. Robbie still looks a little goal shy and seems reluctant to take on a shot at times. I know he was carrying a knock and the lone striker role doesn't suit him that much. Fernando back should help him by creating more space for him to exploit.

Let's see how the team can turn themselves around after the first defeat of the season, starting with Atleti on Tue. If we can beat them, which we should be able to, we'll be safe for the second round and almost guaranteed to top the group. Hopefully we'll see EL Nino get a few mins.

Oliver Kay in the TImes has a piece loking back at the team Rafa had on his first premiership game in charge against Spurs, over four years ago. The Guardian got five legends of yesteryear together to compare their teams to Rafa's.

Rafa wants to talk to Hicks and Gillett about a new contract. Don't blame him. Get it sorted you pair of pricks.

Robbie's mixed bag

Rafa's not happy. Neither am I, to be honest. While an away draw in Spain isn't a disaster by any means, given how the match went, we should have put it beyond doubt at half time. We created loads of chances in the first half but only took one. As a result we let a ragged Atletico regain confidence and come back at us in the second half. They got their equaliser at the depth and they deserved it but we shouldn't have given them the opportunity to retrieve the match.

Robbie Keane mixed the sublime and the ridiculous. He did superbly well with a through ball from Gerrard to finish below Franco and give us an early lead. It was great to see him go one on one with the keeper and put it away. Well done Robert. But he undid the good work by trying to be too clever with a ball crossed from the right, and attempted to flick it when a sidefoot or tap in would have put it away and the game beyond doubt. As it happened, his miss left it open and we were made to pay for our profligacy. Annoying.

We did make a few more chances and had a goal disallowed when yossi was incorrectly ruled offside. The linesmen had a bit of a shocker and ruled a legitimate goal out for Atleti too. Babel went very close with a diving header from a superb Kuyt cross which went just past the post. Dossena whipped some wicked balls in from the left and had probably his best game for us, after a long bedding in period. It's still early days for him and he has a long way to go but I think there are signs that's he's adapting to the defensive system and gradually improving.

So we now have 7 points in the group with our hardest games out of the way. It looks like it will definitely be us and Atletico to progress but we'll probably need to beat them at Anfield to be guaranteed top spot and the favourable draw in the knockout round.

Eamo Dunphy on RTE was unimpressed. He reckons that LFC have "no chance of challenging for the premier league at all. "The back four's poor. Agger's a poor player, Arbeloa's a shocking player". I hope that we go onto prove him wrong this year. This is the same man that said we had no chance of winning the Champions League in 2005 and promised to retire if we won. Unfortunately, he's not a man of his word. It's a pity that he didn't as he used to be a good pundit but he's now merely a parody of himself, courting controversy, making up facts and figures and ignoring all evidence on the pitch. Being outspoken is more important to him than being correct.

Sid Lowe reports that there was great camaraderie between the home and away fans in the Calderon, which is fantastic. There were some worries beforehand, given the trouble in the Atletico v Marseille match. The two sets of fans joined in Torres chants and the Atleti faithful gave Gerrard a huge ovation when he was withdrawn with an injury.

Stamford Bridge and Chelsea is a daunting prospect for Sunday lunch. I expect that Torres won't be fit in time so it'll probably be Keane up top and Kuyt or Gerrard behind him. Xabi was superb against Atleti and I hope that he's recovered in time for the bridge. He's come in for some tasty tackles so far this season and I wouldn't be surprised to see Lampard trying to break his ankle again. I would snap your hand off for a draw now as it's possibly the most difficult game of the year. Utd at Old Trafford is in or around the same but Chelsea have a stunning home record. Could we be the first ones in years to break that record? I doubt it to be honest. We would have had a fair chance with El Nino but I think that a draw is the best we can hope for without him. Charlie Nicholas reckons we've no chance of winning the title.

Have a look at the kids. The Academy team drew 2-2 away to Utd after being 2-1 down. This is the first time I've seen highly rated players like Amoo and Pepper on camera.

Could this article by Tony Evens mean that the Americans are admitting defeat? We've been around the block with this so many times that I'm not counting any chickens yet. Let's hope that the Sheikh is still interested and Hicks and Gillett lower the asking price given the current financial climate. This could be an interesting twist, but will probably come to nothing.

Tallaght tyro turns up trumps

There'll be a party in the square in Tallaght after that goal. What a way to open your account for your boyhood club? Fantastic instinctive finish, the type Robbie excels at. Good man yourself Rob. I hope that he goes from strength to strength now he's got the monkey off his back by breaking his duck. It's worth noting that he set up Torres on Saturday and El Nino returned the favour with a great cross after a strong run and pass from Kuyt. I think the two of them are learning each others games and a promising partnership looks to be forming. Hopefully Rafa will nurture it to maturity and it'll bear fruit and a bounteous harvest will be reaped by all.

It was Dirk who opened the scoring after 4 minutes. Kuyt has now scored 10 goals in his last 16 Champions league games. Can anybody else in Europe compare with that? Somehow I doubt it. He's proved time and again that he's a must pick in the champions league. Not bad for a player who's a donkey according to Eamonn Dunphy on RTE television. He also called Mascherano a donkey on Wednesday. It's a pity because he used to be a decent football pundit a few years back but now he's just a parody of himself. He was so sure that Liverpool wouldn't win in Istanbul that he promised to retire if we did. Unfortunately, he's not a man of his word.

Gerrard put the icing on the cake with a second half free kick. It was a noteworthy goal for the skipper as it was his 100th. The Times has a feature on 5 of Gerrards best goals out of his ton. Some crackers in there. It's some achievement for a midfielder at the age of 28. Of his 100, 72 have been scored under Rafa as detailed here in the echo. Hopefully he'll go on to score another 100.

It's time to visit Middle Eastlands this Sunday at 3. This will be a test. City are a decent team if a bit unpredictable. We seem to be improving every game at the moment and this is the kind of game that we need to win if we want to challenge this year. Given that Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd all have winnable games, we need to keep up the pressure at the top rather than falling behind and playing catch up like we do most seasons.

Afellay didn't play which is a pity as I would have liked to see him live. He looked good for the Dutch team in his cameo during the Euro's. Rafa is a fan too.

Rafa has revealed that he wants to see more from Babel on a 90 minute basis. He only got a few minutes to display his wares last night. If we qualify for the champions league knock out stages after 4 games, which is possible, then we might see a few starts for Babel.

The "A Liverpool thing" website has a good feature on Lauri Della Valle. The young Finn signed a professional contract this week and is very highly rated within the club.

"Everton won't like that"

Why are the blues so bitter? Given how easy the match was for us, the prematch comments from this chap look fairly stupid now. I can't remember a derby that was so one sided.

Moyes and his negative defensive tactics played right into our hands. Rafa must have been rubbing his hands when he saw the five man midfield with the negative Neville and Fellaini in the centre. Gerrard and Alonso thrived against them even though they were outnumbered. The commentators on BBC 5live said that Everton looked and played like the away team rather than the home one. We utterly dominated possession. Pepe didn't have a save to make all game. Handy number for him.

Two heartening aspects from the match were the combination play from Keane and El Nino. His first goal was a thing of beauty. Keane hit a superb ball from the byline back into the centre and Torres was waiting to volley it home first time to break the deadlock. Great goal. Keane looked very happy with himself and Torres ran straight over to celbrate with him. Robbie knew he was the architect of an artistic move. He also played a crucial role in the second goal with a lovely pass for Dirk to get through on goal. Lucky for us, the tackle from Jagielka only sent it back towards Torres who was waiting to dispatch it for the winner. He scored a third which was incorrectly ruled out by Reily who is a shit ref.

Nice to see little Timmy Cahill get his marching orders too. He likes to act the hard man with brave and courageous tackles from behind. Fairly snide and sly player in my view.

Tony Barrett in the Echo is effusive in his praise of Stevie. "Bossed the midfield in a mature and intelligent display which proved beyond any doubt that he can play with head as well as heart." It was his best display of the season by far according to most observers.

Stevie says that Rafa has improved him as a player. He seems happier now with what position he plays on the pitch, wherever Rafa plays him. Andy Gray and Jamie Redknapp won't be happy to hear that. The Mirror have a picture special featuring everyone of the captain's 99 goals.

Once again there were disgraceful chants and songs from both sets of fans. The days of the friendly derby are well and truly gone. It's become poisonous and vile over the last decade or two. Sad situation.

PSV will be the next team to try to become the first one to beat us this season. I was unimpressed with them when we played them last year. Affaley looks like a good player but I don't remember them having much beyond him. I fully expect us to get the win on Wed night.

It appears that the Academy is getting a new addition. But rather than a Spanish teen, it's Wrexham's head of youth development Steve Cooper. Will this mean the end of Elias or Hamberg who are currently in similar roles?

Could this young Brazilian centre back become the new Sami?

Ins, outs and goal droughts

Despite the media hype before hand, there weren't any fireworks on the pitch or off the pitch at Villa Park on Sunday. Rafa and O'Neil, the mortal enemies since their Gareth Barry tug of love, managed to shake hands without stabbing or head butting each other. The game itself was without major incident too. Both defences were on top and once Torres came off we looked a lot more toothless. On the plus side, our full backs Dossena and Arbleoa did well in keeping the pacy Villa attackers Young and Agbonlahor quiet. Keane did well enough and linked well with N'Gog and the team. He could and should have done better when he was put through on Friedal. He waited slightly too long before taking his shot which gave Reo Coker time to get back and tackle him. On another day he would have gotten a peno for it. I think that his confidence is lacking somewhat and once he gets a goal or two he'll be putting chances like that away again without thinking too much about it.

This is really bad news. Given Torres hamstring and Gerrard's groin, I think we're going to struggle badly against Utd at Anfield. I would be very surprised if either of them are fit in time for the game.
The Mirror provide some trial by youtube evidence on Albert Riera. He flew to Merseyside on Friday for a medical and it was tied up today before the transfer window deadline for an initial £5.5m. Given that Parry is in charge of negotiations, I was a bit worried that there might be a last minute hitch. Ballague gives a rundown of Riera's abilities on his blog. A lightly less high profile is 18 year old brazilian striker Vitor Flora who has signed from Botafogo. Cue many margarine puns. I wouldn't stoop that low (low) on red in Dublin.

As expected while there were arivals, there were also departures. High fiving Riera and Flora in John Lennon airport were Steve Finan and Andre Voronin. Finnan leaves for the sunny catalan climes of Barcelona as he's signed a 2 year deal with Espanyol. I hope he enjoys a beautiful city and does well for it's second club. I really like Finnan and he gave us great service over the past few years. But he fell down the pecking order towards the end of last season and was told he could leave this summer. Most reds will be happy to hear that Voronin is off to Hertha Berlin on a season long loan. Despite a few stunning goals in pre season this year and last, he wasn't of the level required for LFC. One player who won't be leaving is Xabi, despite a late £14m bid from Arsenal. We would be mad to sell him considering that we didn't get Barry. It looks like Pennant will be staying too as he didn't fancy a £5m move to Stoke. Maybe a loan deal will be agreed at some point.

The stadium news was as disappointing as it was predictable. If the banks won't give these fools anymore money then surely their game is up? If they can't borrow to build the stadium, and don't have the cash to fund it either, then their project is dead in the water. They have no chance of getting the £1billion Hicks wants without a complete stadium. I hope this all hastens their departure and the arrival of DIC and the Sheikh.

Chemistry and alchemy

Gentlemen, start your engines.

And we're off. To a sluggish start, it must be said. But this was never going to be an easy match and we got three points away from home against a much improved Sunderland. I can see them troubling other big teams at the stadium of light this year. We were poor enough in the first half but were much improved when Xabi came on for Plessis and created some good chances. First game of the season is all about result. 3 points, job done. United only drawing at home makes it an even better weekend.

That man Nando did it again. His "difficult second season" hasn't started too badly. "If only he could do it away from Anfield" was the incredibly begrudging moan coming from some quarters last season. 24 league goals in his first season wasn't enough for some people. Too many times in recent years we've drawn games when we should have won. But when you have world class talent like el nino in your squad, anything is possible. He used his alchemical skills to turn a leaden one point into a golden three. He could have had another one when Keane blocked his shot. Their chemistry will improve given more time together. I don't think Nando looks at top form and may be a bit rusty over the next few weeks. If he can score goals like that while he's rusty, we can look forward to some more magic when he's back to his best.

Here's an interview with Nando and Setanta man of the match Xabi Alonso. I really hope that we don't sell Alonso. He played well when he came on at half time. There are games where he doesn't have as big an impact as he should but they're rare. He adds so much vision and composure to the team that I think he's almost always worth his place. His effort from inside his own half yesterday showed the genius that he possesses again. Besides all that, he seems to be an absolute gentleman. Please don't sell him Rafa. Chris Bascombe reckons he wants out.

Tony Barrett in the echo has an interesting analysis of the season, focusing on matters off the pitch. Let's hope boardroom wrangling don't adversely effect our season, wishful thinking, I'm afraid. Balague reckons that Rafa nearly quit over the Barry saga when the yanks pulled out of paying the £18m. But then Rafa rang Balague to say he's not quitting. I like Balague but I don't reckon he knows quite as much as he lets on to know. Some of his predictions are way off.

The Daily Mail is linking us to Valero of Real Mallorca. We've been linked to him before, as far as I remember. Tony Mowbray of West Brom is also after him so we've no chance, clearly.

Check out Digger Barnes at the top of the pile. When he does his thing the crowd go bananas.

What do we expect from the rest of the season, starting with Middlesbrough visiting Anfield on Saturday? We should beat Boro at home. Boro aren't a bad side, as Spurs found out yesterday. I'm hoping the Keane can score on his home debut. It'd be a great way for him to settle in. If we get a peno, he should take it.

While I don't think we would have been out of the title race had we lost yesterday, I don't think we're favourites or guaranteed to nab no.19 because we beat the mackems. It's easy to react with a knee jerk after a good/bad result. I'll try to resist and keep the tiller on a happy medium. I really expect a title challenge. Unfortunately I fear it'll be an unsuccessful one. I predicted 2nd last year and am going to make the same prediction this time around. Many fans would be happy us to see us in the mix up at around Easter time. I would hope that we can push all the way but I think one of Utd or Chelsea will beat us to the prize. As I've said before, I don't see us winning under the Americans.

Rafa feels this is his best squad ever and I'm inclined to agree. With the addition of Keane, we now have three match winners. This should help a lot against packed defenses as they'll have to try and mark, Gerrard, Torres and Keane. Plus Babel could step it up and maybe become a fourth match winner. I think we're very well stocked in defence with Agger back, Dossena slotting in at left back and the sale of an error prone Riise. Midfield has loads of quality options and is as strong as any in the league. We're well stocked up front too. The only area that we're weak in is wide attackers. I don't say wingers, as we don't play with wingers. Kuyt did well at times on the right and Babel did the same on the left last year but neither delivered consistently. This is an area in which Rafa may try to strengthen over the next few weeks. Gerrard may play on the right in some games, and is very effective there, as we've seen in previous seasons.

It's great to have football back. How did we manage over the past few weeks since the euros ended? The drought is over, let's enjoy the deluge over the next 9 months.

Glasgow agog as Gers gubbed

Chain chasing at melwood this week.

I've two friendlies and four goals to report on this sunny bank holiday Monday in Dublin.

The Villareal match was pretty boring. It was arranged as part of the Riena deal a few years back. It had the look of a friendly about it, which is what it was. The only noteworthy incidents were seeing Keane wearing the shirt for the first time and seeing the reception that our Spanish heroes got from the home crowd. That Torres chap seems to be quite popular.

Then we paid a visit to Ibrox to put Rangers back in their box. I have no interest in Scottish football myself, especially the sectarian bullshit that goes on between the old firm. I think it's particularly brainless when you see somebody like Robbie Keane get booed by Rangers fans because he's Irish. Similarly, Celtic fans booed David Healy when playing for Fulham in recent weeks. That's not far off the bad old days when black players would get booed in my book.

Given all that, it was especially satisfying to see us wallop Rangers 4-0. Torres, Yossi, Ngog and Xabi managed to get on the score sheet. It's a pity that Robbie didn't join them. The Echo give N'Gog a glowing report. The young Frenchman scored the goal of the game when he beat a defender or two before firing past the keeper from distance. He could be the surprise package of this season. I would expect that he'll be used like Babel was last year, mainly from the bench to run at tired defenses in the last half hour of games. The Mail tips him as one of ten Prem teens to look out for this season.

Kevin McCarra suggests that King Kenny was the greatest British footballer from the last 50 years. Who am I to argue?

Despite hearing this on Wednesday, we heard this later in the week from O'Neil. Rafa says that he doesn't want to or need to unload Xabi. We'll see about that. If we do sign Barry, which is looking likely, then I think we'll have too many midfielders and one of them will have to be let go. Xabi is the obvious one to be sold in that scenario. Reports today say that Arsenal will sign him when we sign Barry. The Guardian reckon they've made an opening bid in the region of £10m but we want something nearer £18m.

Sky suggest Roma are interested in Yossi. How about De Rossi coming the other way if the Barry deal falls through?

One player we won't be seeing this season is Leto. He's been refused a work permit and is off on loan to Olympiakos for the season. I hope he makes a go of it there.

We drew Standard Liège in the champions league third round qualifiers. That's a handy enough draw and we really shouldn't have any problems over two legs. It would have been much worse if we drew Atletico Madrid, although El Nino would have been happy to go home for a visit. It would be nice if we drew them in the group stages.

I'm off to enjoy the sun while it lasts. I doubt it will be for long.

Robbie keen on Reds

He's always been a red but now it's official. Rafa's signed a premiership star who's going to drive us crazy with his goals and passes and Eto'o promised to do years ago.. He wants the premiership. As Captain Picard would say, "make it so".
Love at first sight.

The BBC website has a video of his press conference. The money quote from Robbie's unveiling:
"My whole family are Liverpool fans. I remember every Christmas asking for jerseys and tracksuits – it's great now that I get the tracksuits for free!"
Good to see he's remaining true to his roots, although, there's no accounting for taste. Chris De Burgh? Jaysus.

Check out some of Keane's goals here, here, here and here.

Here's what Lawro said about Torres last summer. Now he seems unimpressed wiht the Keane signing. Hopefully he'll be equally wrong this time around. Personally I'm very excited about the signing. I think his record shows us that he almost guarantees you around 15 league goals per season. It's interesting to note that he gets as many goals away as at home, as we saw at Anfield last season. I think he'll be another match winner to add to Torres, Gerrard and hopefully Babel if he continues to improve. This added goals and attacking threat should help us to win matches we drew last year.

I listened to some of the Hertha Berlin 0-0 draw on the e-season ticket. The only real incident of note seems to be the Voronin penalty miss. You can read the Liverpool Echo report here.

Rafa continues to hoover up Spanish teens like there's no tomorrow. The latest addition is Emmanuel Mendy, an 18 year old right/left back who'll go straight in the reserves.

Here's an interesting Rawk article on our defence. He thinks it'll be Agger and Skrtel and I'm inclined to agree, but I'm sure Carra will get his fair share of games. He's still the best organiser and leader in the defense.

The Ngog deal was completed for £1.5m as he only had a season left on his contract. Rafa says that he'll make a contribution to the first team. I expect him to get games in the Babel and Kuyt positions last season.

The Guardian have reprinted an old interview with Bill Shankly. Fantastic stuff.

The official site had an interview with Rafa's chief scout, Eduardo Macia. Keep up the good work.

Olympiakos officials laud Liverpool loanee Leto land, as a cheap tabloid might say. So Seb is Athens bound for the year. It seems that passport problems are limiting his chances with us for now. I hope he gets some experience in Greece. He's a hard one to figure out. He clearly has talent but the end product is missing at the moment.