Rounding up the last few weeks and looking ahead

Talking Reds is backing Spain at Euro 2008!

Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few weeks.

Between wrapping things up in my own personal life in Liverpool and dealing with the fall out from Manchester United's third European Cup win it's been a bit busy.

Not that United's win took a huge emotional toll on me but it did make me want to avoid football for a couple of days before and afterwards with all the predictable hysteria.

It was a good game which I wasn't expecting but even the suggestion that somehow this "Game of Games" as ITV billed it was better than the drama of Istanbul three years ago was absurd.

Anyway enough about events in Moscow.

On the transfer front at Liverpool, it's been disheartening if not unexpected to learn that funds are limited this summer. There are some reports that Rafa has been given a meagre £20m to spend meaning that he will need to sell to raise the kind of funds needed to compete with the other three.

Philip Degen's expected arrival means Steve Finnan looks set to join Jermaine Pennant, Peter Crouch and John Arne Riise on the transfer list this summer.

Scott Carson will likely be off too and we have some confirmation of Xabi Alonso's position at the club. While wishing to keep the Spaniard, Rafa has named his price and £16m is what Juventus will need to pay if the elegant midfielder is to join ex team mate Momo Sissoko at the Stadio Delle Alpi. It would be interesting to know how Alonso feels about this. He is no longer indispensable, a far cry from his position at Anfield a couple of years ago.

It would be a real shame to see him go in my view. He's a quality player whose contribution to the team is often overlooked amidst the eye catching tackles and all action style of Javier Mascherano and the sheer power, drive and goal scoring brilliance of Steven Gerrard.

But £16m is also a lot of money and is much needed given the ownership situation which has, after one summer of heavy spending, seen us revert back to the same position we were in before the Americans' arrival - going for our second choice targets because our first choices are too expensive. It's a mess that will no doubt come to the forefront again in the coming months.

Speaking of targets, our interest in Gareth Barry has brought us into conflict with Martin O'Neill, a man once often mentioned as a future Liverpool manager but who seems to have found his level at Aston Villa. He has been mighty pissed with our attempts to lure Barry to Anfield. It's likely to take time but if Barry wants to leave, and so far that is not entirely clear, then it's only a matter of time before it happens.

The fact we can throw Scott Carson into the mix could be a useful bargaining chip. Our valuation of him at £10m does seem a tad high but then perhaps Villa's valuation of a player who has no European experience and has only recently become a regular fixture in the England side is also high. Our assessment of Carson falls in line with some of the ridiculous prices we've been quoted for up and coming English players in the past.

Our solution to the left back issue appears to be Udinese's Andrea Dossena. I know nothing about this player but based on Benitez's previous defensive acquisitions in the likes of Arbeloa, Skrtel and Agger you can be reasonably confident this will be a shrewd buy provided we see off reported competition from Fiorentina and Juventus.

If Crouch leaves, there will be a strikers position open. I don't think anyone feels comfortable with Andriy Voronin being considered as an alternative to Fernando Torres. So it raises the question as to who we can bring in that is prepared to sit on the bench much the same as Crouch did last season but is good enough to adequately fill Torres' boots when called upon.

David Villa continues to be mentioned as he looks set to leave struggling Valencia but where he fits into our new formation is a question that Rafa will need to answer. He's a striker of immense quality and it will be interesting following Euro 2008 to see how he links up with Torres.

El Nino himself is subject of tabloid speculation about a mammoth £50m bid from Chelsea. Liverpool's denial was expected, more importantly Torres himself has little interest in joining the Russian circus at Stamford Bridge.

Instead we can look forward to him hopefully banging in the goals in Austria and Switzerland next month and returning to Anfield in July ready for his second season.

Needless to say I'm backing Spain at this summer's championships which I'm thoroughly looking forward too. The absence of England means we have none of the usual media hysteria and can instead look forward to what will hopefully be a quality tournament.

I'll throw in my tuppence worth as the tournament progresses as well as rounding up all the transfer gossip and deals throughout the summer months.

Have a great summer and keep checking back here for all the news!

Reds 1-0 City: That end of season feeling.

It's taken me quite a while to get over Wednesday but the pain of it all was somewhat lessened by getting a chance to see the Reds in action against Manchester City at Anfield this afternoon in a typical end of season testimonial type non event.

Neither side went hell for leather and it made for a pretty dour affair. Some had Euro 2008 in the back of their minds, others just couldn't wait to sack it off for the summer.

There was much the same feelings in the crowd. Anfield was very quiet. Unlike in recent seasons we did not have the prospect of a European Cup final to look forward to and that probably explains it.

It was a dour game notable only for our shiny new kit and an encouraging performance from Emiliano Insua at left back. The young Argentinean was the only youngster given a chance despite the rumours of Anfield debuts for Damien Plessis and Kristian Nemeth.

Both did grace the hallowed turf today but it was at half time when the reserve squad were presented with the Barclays Northern Premier League title and with the second string aiming for the national title against Aston Villa at Anfield on Wednesday that's probably why they didn't play today.

El Nino added another fine goal to his collection, making mince meat out of the normally excellent Richard Dunne before finding the far corner. It's 32 for the season now and he equals Roger Hunt's record of scoring in eight consecutive home league games. If he brings such great form into next season then there will be many more records broken.

It's been an amazing debut season for the lad, far beyond any of our expectations, probably even his. But every defender in the league will know him just a bit better next year.

Xabi Alonso, while still a fantastic and important player to the side, has never quite hit the heights of his debut season. But Torres has mental strength in abundance and that will count for a lot. Anything close to the form he has shown this season will be more than acceptable next term.

The exclusion of John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch perhaps speaks volumes about their futures at the clubs. Question marks too over Alonso. A summer of change is on the horizon after an up and down season that was never helped by the off field instability.

We've improved massively in the league despite what some may think. We lost ten league games last term, we've lost just four this time around, one less than champions elect Man U.

Clearly the problem lies with draws which we need to cut out and be more clinical against sides, particularly at home.

But Rafa has come upon a formation that gets the best out of our two best players in Gerrard and Torres. A few key additions in the summer and we'll be on the right track.

We've been saying for a good ten years that we're just a couple of players away from challenging for the league but I genuinely believe that is now the case. But only if Rafa gets the funds and support necessary to continue the great work he has done so far.

To win some you must lose some

You can hold your heads up high lads, you gave it your all. We will be back.

Belief - A powerful weapon

In the build up to the second leg of Liverpool's original Champions League semi final clash with Chelsea in May 2005, Rafa Benitez was virtually harassed by some journalist about Jose Mourinho.

Repeatedly asked to say just how great Mourinho was in the hope that it might prompt a headline of "Benitez praises genius of Jose" the boss stayed cool in his answers until he delivered the killer blow "Yes but tomorrow, he will lose" And so he did. Luis Garcia sent the ball over the line and far far away and the rest, as we know, is history.

Belief got us to Istanbul, belief got us to Athens and we will need that same belief to make it to Moscow.

Benitez's former assistant Pako Ayesteran later said of that original Chelsea tie that he and the coaching team including Benitez had utterly convinced the players that they could not be beaten by Chelsea again following defeat to the Blues in the Carling Cup Final in February of that year. And so it was.

Benitez will no doubt be working off the same principle again this time around.

Our record against Chelsea has been gradually improving if not greatly so in recent seasons. We have been the superior team at Anfield in both our meetings this season with only poor referring in the league and woeful bad luck last Tuesday preventing us from winning both games.

At Stamford Bridge, a weakened side was only seen off by a strong Chelsea when Frank Lampard's shot took a wicked deflection in the Carling Cup in December. And in the league meeting in January, we could well have snatched victory and were, as we've been reminded of in recent days, Fernando Torres-less.

That won't be the case tomorrow. With Torres in the side, as we have seen so often this season, anything is possible.

And undoubtedly we have belief. You need only read the words of Benitez in the build up to this game: "We will score. We will win and we will get to the final," he says confidently.

Strong words. They'll need a strong performance to back them up in West London tomorrow night where a progression to the final would undoubtedly be one of Benitez's finest achievements as manager of this club.

Our brand spanking new home kit...

I have to say I like it. An improvement on the current one which is also pretty nice but there's less white and more red on this one which is always good.

Surprised that the goalkeeper's kit is all black. A bit of a change from traditional green or yellow but at the same time not many people are looking to buy the goalie's kit save for those who fancy themselves as Pepe Reina in Sunday League or young kids (I have a ridiculous amount of goalkeeper's shirts from the mid nineties which were all a bit naff at the time and even more so now)

The players all love it. Surprise, surprise.

But there's been lots of message board talk about a possible boycott of the new club attire in an effort to hit Hicks and Gillett where it hurts. I doubt whether this can really be effective or not but it remains to be seen. Bottom line is that the continued success of the club will lead to more shirt sales as we gain more "fans" just like after Istanbul when sales of club merchandise went through the roof and the club and Reebok failed to cope.

If we turn things around at Chelsea and then win in Moscow, a boycott of club merchandise is unlikely to be successful or even make any significant impact. But that shouldn't stop those who feel strongly about the whole thing from doing it.

"He talks good English, but is not English." - And he is....

...Philip Degen, on a free transfer, the first of "four or five" signings expected this summer as the future of Rafa Benitez looks more secure following meetings with Tom Hicks and his son at Melwood before and after the Chelsea game.

What we know of Degen is that he is a 25-year-old right full back who has been playing at Borussia Dortmund for the last three years. He previously played for FC Basle, our old Champions League foes, and was part of Switzerland's 2006 World Cup squad making him...Swiss, obviously.

He is said to be attack minded, good at getting up and down the line and all those cliches that usually accompany a description of an attacking full back. He can play right wing and has been known to fill in at left back on occasion.

His arrival on July 1st, when his contract expires at Dortmund, casts further doubts over the future of Steve Finnan who has become increasingly marginalised towards the back end of the season.

It's been strange turn of events really. It's not as if he has been playing badly but he has had a few injuries and at 32 just yesterday, Rafa must feel it's time to freshen that position up.

It's been the Irishman's position for all of the boss' four year tenure and rightly so. He's been a consistently excellent performer but we must move forward. It will be interesting to see if Finnan is retained in the summer as back up or else moved elsewhere. It will be sad to see him go if he does leave.

Meanwhile Fabio Aurelio's season is effectively over after he was ruled out for three weeks with a torn adductor muscle that saw him stretchered off against Chelsea on Tuesday. Sad for the Brazilian who always seems to get injured whenever he finds a bit of form. It means John Arne Riise is likely to play at Chelsea next week in a bid to make amends.

He may play at Birmingham on Saturday but Emiliano Insua could also come into contention with wholesale changes likely to be made in a bid to keep the side fresh for Stamford Bridge.

Reds 1-1 Chelsea: A moment of madness and a mountain to climb

That's not something we are used to. A late equaliser such as that is hard to take in any situation but in a Champions League semi final that changes the entire complexion of the tie completely and an own goal to boot...that's pretty horrendous and very hard to take.

I feel sorry for poor John Arne. Sure he's been horribly off form for quite some time but no one deserves that even if his judgement in dealing with the goal was very poor. Why crouch down to head away a ball that could easily be booted into touch?

But there's no pointing in going over the what ifs and the maybes. We had some good chances to finish the tie off in the second half and played well at times.

Chelsea weren't any great shakes and that's would should be the starting point in preparing for the second half. They are clearly not the side they were under Jose Mourinho and the newspaper headlines would be a lot different tomorrow were it not for Riise's wayward header.

We've not scored at Stamford Bridge in a long time and not in the two visits this season but as Steven Gerrard wisely pointed out post match, Fernando Torres didn't play in either of those games.

Rafa Benitez was rightly peeved at the performance of referee Konrad Plautz. Chelsea seemed to get every little decision their way and I struggle to think where the four minutes of added on time came from when there were only four substitutions in the whole game.

My friend, ever the conspiracy theorist, reckoned on a grand scheme to avoid the logistical and safety nightmare of a Liverpool v Man U final in Moscow. I wouldn't go that far but undoubtedly a poor refereeing performance contributed somewhat to tonight's result.

In any case, no point dwelling. We played a good game right up until that one fatal moment at the end. There's enough quality and belief in this team to believe we can do the job at Stamford Bridge.

There's been plenty of miracles under Rafa in Europe these past three years and we'd be foolish to write off the chances of another next Wednesday in West London however harder the task has now become.