FRIDAY 18
	Gerrard: Not good enough England captain Steven Gerrard gave a frank assessment of his side's performance as they laboured to a tame draw against Algeria. The Three Lions could only muster a 0-0 stalemate in Cape Town, leaving them tied on two points with the USA going into the final round of matches. When asked after the match what was missing from the offering, he simply responded: "Goals." But the Liverpool star went on: "We're not happy with the performance, we need more - we want to stay in this tournament until the later stages (but) we need to improve. We weren't good enough in the final third to get the breakthrough." (Sky Sports)  Hero Jovanovic sinks Germany Milan Jovanovic was the Serbian hero as they completed a shock World Cup victory over 10-man Germany on Friday lunchtime. The forward - who will reportedly sign for Liverpool on a Bosman free this summer - struck the only goal of the contest to throw Group D wide open. His performance during a 79-minute outing will have impressed Kopites on a day when one of the World Cup favourites were humbled. (LFC Official Website)  Reds confirm warm-up games Liverpool have announced three new friendly matches in July as they prepare for the start of the 2010-11 season. A new era for the Reds will get underway on July 17 in Austria when Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal will provide the opposition. A game against Grasshoppers in Switzerland on July 21 will then be followed with a fixture against Kaiserslautern in Germany three days later before the Liverpool squad returns home to prepare for the first leg of their third round Europa League qualifier on July 29. The return leg will take place the following week on August 5. Sandwiched in between the European ties will be a trip to Germany to face Bundesliga outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach on August 1. The new Barclays Premier League season gets underway over the weekend of August 14-15 when Liverpool will kick-off with an Anfield clash against Arsenal. Liverpool's pre-season programme: July 2010: 16 Draw for Europa League third round qualifier 17 v Al Hilal in Austria 21 v Grasshoppers in Switzerland 24 v Kaiserslautern in Germany 29 First leg of Europa League third round qualifier August 2010: 1 v Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany 5 Second leg of Europa League third round qualifier (LFC Official Website) Hicks and Gillett labelled “asset strippers” by Liverpool MP Steve Rotherham The controversy over the American owners of Liverpool FC was raised in Parliament yesterday when they were labelled “asset strippers” in the House of Commons. Walton’s new Labour MP, Steve Rotheram, used his maiden speech in the Commons to claim the actions of Tom Hicks and George Gillett threatened the club’s existence. Mr Rotheram, a former lord mayor, told MPs he was a “dyed-in-the-wool” Liverpool fan and an Anfield season ticket holder. But I would honestly say the same things if it was Everton FC that had been the victim of a leverage buyout that endangered its future survival and which has caused so many problems for my constituents living in close proximity to the football stadium. “England’s most successful football club is slowly being drained by the greed of two American asset strippers and this is having a negative impact on regeneration projects for the whole area." (Liverpool Daily Post)  Mascherano agent claims Inter contact Javier Mascherano is edging towards the exit door at Liverpool after his agent claimed he is in talks with Internazionale over a possible move to Serie A. The Argentina captain's future at Anfield has been the subject of much speculation during the past 12 months. Last summer he was strongly linked with a move to Barcelona, while former Reds boss Rafael Benitez's recent move to Inter has led to suggestions that Mascherano could follow him to Italy. Earlier in the month, the 25-year-old midfielder suggested he would be interested in rejoining Benitez at Inter. Now agent Marco Piccioli claims there has been contact with the Italian and European champions over a possible switch to the San Siro. "There has already been a first contact with director Marco Branca," he claimed. "We are evaluating the move hard and in the next few days we will have a new meeting to better establish the details of this transfer deal." (Sport.co.uk) Liverpool talk to Pellegrini over vacant manager's job Manuel Pellegrini, the former Real Madrid coach, has held talks with Kenny Dalglish over the managerial vacancy at Liverpool despite Roy Hodgson remaining the club's preferred candidate to succeed Rafael Benítez at Anfield. (The Guardian)
	THURSDAY 17
	Reina fears Torres and Gerrard may quit Liverpool Pepe Reina broke off from the Spanish inquisition into their improbable defeat to Switzerland to express his concerns that Liverpool could regress even further if Rafael Benítez's departure as manager is followed by either Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard leaving Anfield. "Of course there is concern about Fernando and Stevie," he said. "Not just them, but others, too. Any team would count on Stevie and Fernando as big names and, for us, it's the same. Without them, it would be really tough to be up there at the top next season." (guardian.co.uk) Hodgson happy with Cottagers Roy Hodgson has reiterated his desire to bring about an end to speculation linking him with Liverpool. Hodgson claims that is all the Liverpool talk is at present and has once again stated that he is more than happy with life on the banks of the Thames. (Sky Sports) Gerrard hoping for forward role England skipper Steven Gerrard hopes to be played in an advanced role against Algeria as Gareth Barry prepares to return in midfield. The 30-year-old believes the return of Barry will strengthen England for the meeting with the Algerians in Cape Town. He said: "It is not for me to prejudge what the manager is going to do and I will do whatever job the manager asks me to do to the best of my ability. "But, if I am able to play in a more attacking role, then it suits me and I will look forward to that." (TEAMtalk)   Duo feature in Korea rout Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez played prominent roles as Argentina all-but booked their place in the knockout stage with a superb 4-1 win over South Korea at the 2010 World Cup on Thursday afternoon. The Reds duo featured for the full 90 minutes as a hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain and an own goal from Park Chu-Young saw Diego Maradona's men ease into top spot in Group B. (LFC Official Website)   Soto's Greece earn first win Sotirios Kyrgiakos played a commanding role as Greece came from behind to beat Nigeria 2-1 and give themselves a chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the World Cup. Liverpool's No.16 played the full 90 minutes as the Greeks battled bravely to keep their last 16 hopes alive. With both teams losing their opening Group B fixtures at the hands of South Korea and Argentina respectively, the race to join Diego Maradona's side in the last 16 was well and truly on. (LFC Official Website)  Liverpool FC to start at home to Arsenal Liverpool FC will begin the post-Rafa Benitez era with a home fixture against Arsenal. The Premier League fixtures for the 2010/11 season were announced this morning and have sent Arsene Wenger's side to Merseyside on the opening weekend, giving the Reds their first Anfield opener since Chelsea visited in 2003. Arsenal last visited Anfield on the first day of the season back in 1985, when goals from Ronnie Whelan and Steve Nicol gave the Reds a 2-0 win, in Kenny Dalglish's first match as player-manager. A week later, Liverpool travel to Manchester City before entertaining newly-promoting West Brom before the end of August. September's highlight is a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on 18th while October sees the first league visit of Blackpool to Anfield for 39 years (2nd) and the first Merseyside derby of the campaign at Goodison Park (16th). League champions Chelsea visit Anfield on November 6th while the festive period sees the Reds travel to Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on Boxing Day and entertain Wolves two days later before Bolton pitch up at Anfield on New Year's Day. January sees the Anfield derby on 15th along with trips to Blackburn (5th) and Wolves (22nd) while February sees two testing visits to the capital to face Chelsea (5th) and West Ham (26th). The only two scheduled league fixtures for March are Man Utd at home (5th) and Sunderland away (19th) while the run-in sees trips to Arsenal (April 16th) and Fulham (May 7th) along with home games against Man City (April 9th) and Spurs (May 14th) before the season concludes at Villa Park on May 22nd. (Liverpool Echo)
	WEDNESDAY 16
	Swiss shock for Torres Fernando Torres could not prevent Spain from crashing to a 1-0 defeat in their opening game of the World Cup finals as Switzerland produced one of the shocks of the tournament so far on Wednesday afternoon. (LFC Official Website)   Report: Liverpool to hand Hodgson initial £12m transfer kitty Roy Hodgson will be handed an initial £12 million transfer kitty when he takes charge of Liverpool. The Mirror says Hodgson has spoken to his Fulham board, and conceded that he would find the offer to manage at Liverpool too hard to turn down, despite his affection for the Craven Cottage outfit. (tribalfootball.com)  Benitez backs Dalglish Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has backed club legend Kenny Dalglish to take the reins at Anfield. "I think Liverpool should look at Kenny Dalglish," he said. "No one knows the club better than Dalglish and he would be perfect there." (Sky Sports)  Report: Fulham chiefs accept losing Hodgson to Liverpool Fulham accept manager Roy Hodgson is set to join Liverpool, it has been revealed. The Mirror says sources at Fulham confirmed last night they have lost all hope of holding on to Hodgson. A Liverpool board meeting on Friday has rubber-stamped a move for the experienced manager, and formal contact is expected to follow. (tribalfootball.com)   Beardsley backs Dalglish Liverpool legend Peter Beardsley is confident Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will stay with the club if Kenny Dalglish is re-appointed as manager. 'I'm not saying he would be a massive success straight away because there are a lot of problems at Liverpool,' Beardsley said. 'They are not Kenny's problems but they need to be resolved - the Steven Gerrard issue, the Fernando Torres issue - and I think you would have more chance of keeping those players if you had a hero like Kenny in charge of the team. 'I can't speak for the people of Liverpool but I know the fans would love him and when I look at him, his football knowledge and his football mentality, he loves the game. 'What he means to Liverpool is sensational and I would have no qualms about giving him the job.' (RTE)   Report: Inter make progress in Mascherano move Inter are moving closer to Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano after stepping out to meet the player's entourage as early talks begin. Il Corriere dello Sport claims the Nerazzurri have spoken with those who look after Mascherano's interests and further talks are planned next week. (Goal.com)     Thor Zakariassen ©