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TUESDAY 3 |
Fowler on the mark but Reds well beaten
Robbie Fowler netted a consolation goal as Liverpool
Reserves crashed to a 4-1 defeat against Newcastle United on
a dismal night at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.
The Reds also lost Lee Peltier to injury and Stephen Warnock
to illness in the first half to compound the night's
disappointment.
It was initially feared Warnock had an injury when he left
the field after 35 minutes but Reds reserve boss Gary Ablett
later revealed he was feeling ill. Peltier left the field
after just four minutes and later needed five stitches in a
badly gashed knee wound.
Fowler played the full 90 minutes and scored a consolation
goal for Liverpool in the last minute when he fired a shot
into the back of the net from Bolo Zenden's left wing cross.
Liverpool were already 3-0 down as Newcastle's Spanish star
Albert Luque scored two superb goals. Carl Finnigan scored
the fourth goal for Newcastle in stoppage time.
Liverpool Reserves: Dudek, Peltier (Smith 4), Warnock (Darby
35), Roque, Paletta, Guthrie, Pennant (Flynn 60), Zenden,
Fowler, El Zhar, Threlfall.
Subs unused: Hobbs, Roberts.
(LFC Official Website)
Hyypia: Title talk worthless until May
Sami Hyypia says Liverpool should stop being dragged into
premature title judgements and focus completely on ending
their away slump.
Every defeat or victory provokes a similar hysterical
reaction, with Liverpool dubbed challengers after a win and
no-hopers after a loss.
Hyypia is clearly sick of the hype and prefers a sense of
perspective.
"Let's see where we are in May," said the Finn today.
"Within the club, of course we want to win the title, but
we've not been talking about it a lot because we've wanted
to focus on each game and make sure we play to our ability
in every match."
(Liverpool Echo)
Bellamy to lead Wales in qualifiers
Craig Bellamy is the controversial choice to captain Wales
in their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Slovakia and Cyprus.
The Liverpool striker faces a potential three-day court
appearance in Cardiff between the two matches on a charge of
assault, which he denies.
Wales boss John Toshack has opted to appoint the 27-year-old
skipper in the absence due to injury of Ryan Giggs.
It is a surprise decision by Toshack, who only last month
expressed concerns that Bellamy's preparations for the
matches might be affected, even without the captaincy to add
to his responsibilities.
(TEAMtalk)
Travel sick Reds are lacking nasty streak
As Bolton claimed three points on Saturday, I couldn't help
seeing the similarities with the derby.
Until the first goal, Liverpool looked in control and in no
danger.
Once the home team went ahead, they were able to build on
their advantage far too comfortably and you neverfelt
Liverpool were going to save the game.
Teams like Bolton guarantee you a battle, and once you've
given them something to hold onto, it becomes twice as
tough.
There's no doubt the circumstances leading to the first goal
were crucial, but there's no point feeling sorry for
yourself when a bad decision goes against you.
You've got to knuckle down even more, fight harder and get
yourself back into the match. That's the area where I feel
Liverpool are still lacking.
(Ian Rush - Liverpool Echo)
Reds eye January River swoop
Liverpool are reported to be lining up a £5million January
swoop for River Plate's highly-rated young striker Gonzalo
Higuain.
The Reds have been linked with the 18-year-old for some time
and reports have gone as far as suggesting Rafa Benitez
failed with a bid for the player back in August.
(EatSleepSport)
Reds linked with Nani swoop
Liverpool could be set to battle it out with Manchester
United and Chelsea for the services of Sporting Lisbon star
Nani.
The 19-year-old has impressed with the Portuguese club in
the early part of the season and the Reds along with a host
of other clubs have been alerted to his form.
(EatSleepSport)
Rafa warns Reds to mull over poor form
Rafa Benitez wants his international players to
think hard about Liverpool's future while they are away
playing for their countries this week.
Benitez has been left with just six senior players for
training with the rest of his men now on international duty.
But he said: "I'm not a manager who likes to talk and talk.
I like to work and work. We are starting from now this week
with the six players we have with us.
"But I expect those who've left for international duty to
think a lot about what happened on Saturday at Bolton (a 2-0
defeat) and be ready to show a reaction when they come back
in 10 days."
(TEAMtalk) |
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MONDAY 2 |
Late equaliser earns Reds a point
A late equaliser from Mattone Awang gave Liverpool Under-18s
a point as they drew 1-1 at home with Wolves in the Reds
latest Academy League encounter.
Awang came off the bench to telling effect for Liverpool
when he got a touch to deflect a Charlie Barnett effort into
the net for the equaliser.
"We are still searching for that elusive first win of the
season but while I'm disappointed not to have won I was
pleased with how we played," Reds Under-18 boss John Owens
told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"Wolves are a very tall side and nine of their players were
a lot bigger than ours. We had a problem because our tallest
centre back Laurence Gaughan only came back from
international duty on Friday so he couldn't start. My fears
were then realised when Wolves opened the scoring from a set
piece.
"We did well in the second half and we got an equaliser
which we deserved. We play Everton on Saturday so we will
keep working hard and hopefully we will give a good account
of ourselves against them."
Liverpool Under-18 team v Wolves: David Roberts, John
Routledge, Michael Burns, Jay Spearing, Stephen Behan,
Charlie Barnett, Ben Parsonage (Mattone Awang 70), Ryan
Wignall, Michael Scott (Michael Collins 70), Jon Pringle
(Lee Woodward 70), Paul Barratt. Subs unused: Daniel
MacDonald (GK), Laurence Gaughan.
(LFC Official Website)
Benitez is backing Pennant
Liverpool's Jermaine Pennant may have been overlooked by
Steve McClaren yesterday, but Rafael Benitez is convinced
it's only a matter before the winger receives the call from
his country.
Pennant was in sparkling form down the right flank for
Liverpool during their nerve-wracking Champions League
victory over Galatasaray in midweek, creating the second
goal for Luis Garcia with a clever cross and troubling the
Turkish defence with his pace and direct running.
Although England's right flank is, ironically, being filled
by Anfield captain Steven Gerrard, an injury to Tottenham
Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon had raised the suggestion
Pennant could be rewarded for his encouraging Liverpool
performances with a place in the England squad for the
forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifying double header against
Macedonia and Croatia.
But while McClaren opted against handing Pennant a call-up,
Benitez is confident international recognition is only some
hard work away.
"You must have a lot of respect for the other managers, and
if they want to select other players then you must respect
their decision," says the Liverpool manager. "The only thing
you can do is to support your players and tell them they
need to work harder.
"I have no doubts about Pennant's quality. He is playing
really well, and you saw his cross was amazing on Wednesday.
This is the kind of player we were looking for, someone who
can beat players, can cross and can give to us more options
on the right side where we had problems last season.
"It is only a matter of time before he gets called up for
England. He is learning a lot, he is working hard, he is
more mature and I think that soon we will see him in
the national team."
(Daily Post)
Writing on the wall for fired up Trotters
Sam Allardyce believes Rafael Benitez's pre-match comments
helped condemn Liverpool to defeat at the weekend.
The Anfield outfit slipped to their third successive away
Premiership loss as Bolton Wanderers triumphed 2-0 at the
Reebok Stadium.
Benitez reiterated his displeasure of Bolton's robust
tactics before the game and was similarly unhappy after his
Liverpool side were beaten by goals from Gary Speed and Ivan
Campo.
But Allardyce revealed Bolton used the Liverpool manager's
words as motivation to succeed on Saturday.
"The players were talking about what Benitez had said and
had stuck it up on the wall of the dressing room," said
Allardyce.
"I was surprised, to be honest, with what he said after the
game because this game was fought out on an even keel
physically.
Allardyce added: "The comments don't wind me up, but they
wind the players up.
"They certainly did today.
"That might have given them the extra woomph, as if to say
'Don't talk like that about us'."
(Daily Post)
Police investigation continues after
stars' homes burgled
Detectives were last night continuing to investigate
burglaries at the homes of Liverpool footballers Peter
Crouch and Daniel Agger.
Thieves stole valuables and a car Peter Crouch had left on
his driveway while the 6ft 7ins striker was playing against
Galatasaray last week.
It is understood the burglars also vandalised Crouch's
luxury home in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
It happened while he was playing for Liverpool in the
Champions League.
Cheshire Police said they were unable to confirm or deny
reports that Crouch had his house burgled.
In a separate incident, thieves stole two luxury cars during
a break-in at the home of Liverpool's Danish star Daniel
Agger. Police have already recovered the 21-year-old Danish
international's BMW and Cadillac cars that the burglars
stole.
Agger is also thought to have had a wide-screen plasma TV
stolen. The pair are the fourth and fifth Merseyside
footballers to be the victims of thieves in the last four
months.
(Daily Post) |
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SUNDAY 1 |
Benitez: We're not out yet
On the last day of September, Rafael Benitez was already
being confronted with unpalatable questions about
Liverpool's realistic championship chances.
For the Anfield boss it was hard to take after seeing his
side mugged by a system he detests, but nonetheless there
was little doubt that Bolton's ruthlessly effective style
warranted another famous victory for a glowing Sam
Allardyce.
Liverpool have now lost three of their first seven, and by
no stretch of the imagination are they going to lose just
three of their next 31.
Benitez tried to deflect the issue, but even he could not
sound convincing.
The Spaniard said: "Now it is important to be calm and
believe it is too soon to make judgements about the title.
We can talk now about the problem, but two wins in a row
will put us back in a challenging position."
(ITV Football)
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Thor Zakariassen
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