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THURSDAY 3 |
Robinson: Bring on Liverpool
Paul Robinson cannot wait to face Liverpool at the
weekend after Blackburn's dramatic surge into the Carling
Cup semi-finals.
Rovers beat Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea in the
quarter-finals at Ewood Park on Wednesday thanks to a 4-3
penalty
shootout victory.
Robinson, who saved Gael Kakuta spotkick to secure the
victory, said: "Bring on Liverpool. The cup run is a huge
boost for our confidence. Okay, that wasn't Chelsea's
first-team, but it was still a pretty decent side they had
out."
(ITV Football)
Gerrard: Rivals should fear England
Steven Gerrard believes England's World Cup rivals should
fear meeting Fabio Capello's side in the finals in South
Africa.
England have been named among the top seeds for Friday's
draw and Gerrard believes they deserve being selected as one
of the best sides at the tournament.
Liverpool midfielder Gerrard is confident England can be
major contenders in South Africa and that they are a country
to be feared and respected by other nations.
"It can only be to our advantage being seeded. I don't think
we can be afraid of anyone," Gerrard told Talksport.
"We'll certainly respect anyone we come up against but, for
me, I think it's time other teams started fearing us."
(Sporting Life)
Torres set for Reds return
Fernando Torres could make his long-awaited return for
Liverpool at Blackburn this weekend.
The Spanish striker is back in training after missing the
last three games with a niggling groin problem.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez insists Torres is making good
progress and he could be in line for a return to action for
this weekend's trip
to Ewood Park.
"The feedback we had about Torres yesterday was very
positive and he was feeling good," he said.
(Sky Sports)
Gerrard: Top-four realistic
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted a top-four
finish is now a more realistic aim than winning the Barclays
Premier League this season.
The Reds, one of the pre-season title favourites after
finishing second last year, have fallen 13 points behind
leaders Chelsea after a poor run.
Gerrard told talkSPORT: "At the moment we're out of the
title race, but we will keep trying to get back in it."
(Teletext)
Liverpool FC refuse to release
Mascherano for Argentina friendly
Liverpool have refused to release Javier Mascherano for
Argentina’s friendly against Catalunya later this month.
The midfielder, who is skipper of his country, was named by
Diego Maradona in the squad for the showpiece match, which
takes place
on December 22.
But with Catalunya, who are coached by Johan Cruyff, an
autonomous Spanish region and not a country, the fixture is
not recognised by Fifa.
And that has prompted Liverpool to withdraw Mascherano,
given the fixture comes between the Premier League visit to
Portsmouth on December 19 and the visit of Wolverhampton
Wanderers on Boxing Day.
Mascherano has been replaced in the squad by Esteban
Cambiasso of Inter Milan, with Argentina expecting further
withdrawals.
(Liverpool Daily Post) |
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WEDNESDAY 2 |
Torres: I feel like a Scouser
By Zack Wilson - Goal.com UK
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has revealed just how
much at home he feels on Merseyside in a city where people
have shown him a warm welcome since he joined from Atletico
Madrid two years ago.
"I really feel at home here. From the first day I came right
up until today I have felt that Anfield is my home. I feel
like I am from Liverpool," he told the club's official
website.
"[When I first arrived] I visited John Lennon's house and
The Beatles museum and everywhere else like the cathedrals.
In the first month I went around visiting all the important
things in Liverpool with my friends. But the most important
thing here is Anfield, and I can enjoy that every two weeks.
"For me, Anfield is the best place in England but when I
am with my family we normally go to the city centre. We like
to have a walk along the Albert Dock, watching the docks and
chatting to people.
"It's very nice to have the people recognise me and they
always seem to have good words for me. They ask me things
about Liverpool and about myself."
And it is not just Reds fans who treat the striker with
respect when they see him in the city.
"To be honest, I have to say thank-you to the Evertonian
people as well because they also come and ask me things and
talk to me in a really good way," he added.
"When I was in Madrid, the Real Madrid fans didn't like
me. But here the Everton fans are really friendly with me. I
was surprised at first.
"The people here are very different. In Madrid the people
don't have as much respect for players. You can't do the
things normal people do. But here people are very respectful
of players away from the pitch.
"I can go to the supermarket, I can go for a drink anywhere.
The quality of life here for me is much better because I can
do everything I want. I am a normal person here. I can go
for a walk along the beach or up to Formby. Every place I go
I can act normally."
The language is also proving less of a barrier for Torres
as he begins to get the hang of the Scouse dialect.
"At the beginning it was difficult, but funny at the same
time," he explained.
"I made some mistakes. I couldn't understand anything in
restaurants and I couldn't read the bank letters or
electricity and water bills. I didn't know if I'd paid or
not, then I got more letters asking for money. The people at
the club helped us, though.
"I am picking up words because a lot of people at the club
are Scousers. It was difficult in the beginning but, more or
less, I can understand them now."
Reds tracking Manga
Ecuele Manga's agent Yvan Le Mee has revealed that Liverpool
have been tracking the Angers SCO defender.
(Teletext)
Gillett sells
Canadiens franchise
Liverpool co-owner George Gillett has completed the sale of
his Montreal Canadiens ice hockey franchise, expected to
give him a $300m windfall.
Gillett paid $275m for the team and the Bell Centre arena in
2001, but is understood to have sealed a $575m sale to
representatives of the Molson brewing family, report The
Telegraph today.
Whether the money is likely to have any positive influence
this side of the pond is unlikely, given Gillett and partner
Tom Hicks’ track record
thus far.
Interestingly, The Telegraph also report “the pair are
currently seeking third-party investors to break the 50-50
deadlock on the board and pay down some of the club’s £230m
debt”.
(This is Anfield)
Klinsmann coy on new Reds rumours
Jurgen Klinsmann has played a straight bat to the latest
reports that he is to replace under-fire Liverpool boss
Rafael Benitez at Anfield..
The 108-time Germany international has long been linked with
the Reds and the club's co-owner Tom Hicks has admitted
holding talks in the past.
Benitez signed a new long-term contract before the start of
the current season, but speculation has suggested that the
ex-Valencia boss' almost five-year tenure could soon end.
Liverpool have been dumped out of the UEFA Champions League
group stages and are off the pace in the Premier League,
renewing speculation that Klinsmann could replace Benitez.
But the German said in Bild: "There are always rumours."
Klinsmann does not want to return to club management in
Germany and has indicated that he could make a move abroad
before next season.
He said: "For us it is relatively clear. We will not embark
on another adventure in the Bundesliga.
"After the World Cup, I will possibly be somewhere else."
(TEAMtalk)
Everton and Arsenal
games rescheduled
Two Liverpool fixtures during February 2010 have been moved
to allow Sky Sports to show them live.
The Merseyside Derby at Anfield on Saturday, 6 February will
now kick-off at 12.45pm, whilst the Reds’ away game against
Arsenal will now be played on Wednesday, 10 February with a
7.45pm kick-off at
the Emirates Stadium.
(This is Anfield) |
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TUESDAY 1 |
Stevie G to hit the 500 mark
Reds skipper Steven Gerrard will play his 500th reds game if
he turns out against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on
Saturday.
The 29-year old Huyton-born lad signed on as a pro in 1997,
and is currently contracted with the club until 2013. He has
so far bagged an impressive 124 goals in his 499
appearances, and he is just four strikes short of moving up
a place in our list of record goalscorers to tenth.
His 499 games are made up of 344 in the Premiership, 105 in
Europe, 26 FA Cup, twenty in the League Cup and two each in
the FA Charity/Community Shield and FIFA Club World
Championship.
(YNWA)
Benitez admires the Shankly way
Tuesday marks the day in December 1959 when the great Scot
was officially appointed manager of the club.
Benitez, the current incumbent, admits he knew little of
Shankly when he took over the hot seat himself four and a
half years ago.
But he soon learned exactly how important Shankly was to the
history of the club.
And he admits the appointment of playing legend Sammy Lee as
assistant manager was partly designed to rediscover the
spirit of Shankly.
Benitez said: "When we decided to bring in Sammy, we had
someone who knew the philosophy and the ideas of the club.
"Everything has changed in football and everything is
different in society nowadays.
"Life is different. Everyone has iPods or Wiis and in a
hurry to do things. But still we try to have the same ideas
as Shankly.
"When people talk about the 'Liverpool Way', it was always
to win. We try to do this and that is our priority if
possible. We try to do things properly, like Shankly did."
(TEAMtalk)
Rafa explains Aquilani absences
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez insists he will not bow to
critics who want Alberto Aquilani to be rushed into the
first team.
The Reds boss' tactics have been questioned as his
£20million summer signing has remained on the substitutes
bench over recent weeks and only earned a strange 30-second
outing in the UEFA Champions League win at Debrecen.
Fans have been desperate to see Aquilani start a match
amidst the club's struggling form, but Benitez does not want
to rush the 25-year-old's recovery from ankle surgery, which
took place prior to his move from Roma, and a virus.
The Spaniard decided to keep the Italy midfielder absent
from Sunday's win over Everton, resisting the urge of
exposure in the fierce atmosphere of a Merseyside derby, and
will continue to err on the side of caution.
"It's more simple than people think," said Benitez in the
Liverpool Echo. "He has been out for longer than we expected
and, because he has been injured during the summer, he
couldn't train properly.
"Now it is much better and it is a case of improving his
match fitness. We want to play him and we thought we might
have been able to do that with the reserves at Wigan."
(Sky Sports)
Tireless Liverpool FC earned slice
of luck in Mersey derby win
When you show the kind of spirit and desire Liverpool did at
Goodison on Sunday, then you deserve a bit of luck.
Maybe we were fortunate to win but getting the three points
was all that mattered. We had to really fight for what we
got and the work ethic of the side was tremendous.
They say luck evens itself out over the course of the season
and there’s no doubt we were due a break.
There have been a number of games, like Lyon away, where we
deserved a lot more.
With our deflected goal, the chances Everton missed and that
stunning double save from Pepe Reina, hopefully it’s a sign
that our luck is starting to change.
(Ian Rush - Liverpool Echo)
Mersey derby can turn
around season – for both
Everton and Liverpool went into Sunday’s Merseyside derby as
clubs in the midst of a something close to a crisis – and I
think the game
reflected that.
There was a real fear in the air and it made for a nervy
game in which whoever got the first goal was always likely
to emerge victorious.
But it also contained signs that both clubs can emerge from
it and resurrect their seasons.
(Mark Lawrenson - Liverpool Daily Post)
Tom Ince scores as Liverpool FC
through to next round of FA Youth Cup
Tom Ince admitted that defeat by Arsenal in last season’s FA
Youth Cup final was firing him up to go one better this time
round.
And the 17-year-old showed just how fired up he was in last
night’s third round clash with Wolves at Anfield.
Just six months on from that humbling 6-2 aggregate defeat
to the Gunners, a man-of- the-match display from the
17-year-old helped Liverpool progress through to the fourth
round as they beat
the Midlanders 2-0.
LIVERPOOL YOUTH: Chamberlain; Flanagan, Wisdom, McGiveron,
Robinson; Ince, Coady, Roberts; Buchtmann, Adorjan (Pepper
84), Ince; Ngoo. Unused Substitutes: Sama, Jacob, Roddan,
Morgan.
BOOKINGS: Coady, Adorjan (both fouls).
(Liverpool Echo)
Thor Zakariassen
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