Bleacher Report - Articles by Jamie Ward

Stan Collymore: A Complete Waste Of Our Time, But Who's Really To Blame?

Jamie Ward — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:51:02 -0400

I've been getting the train to work for the last few weeks. I enjoy reading a newspaper or two to distract me from the annoying air conditioning unit that accompanies me on my journey.

As always, I head straight to the back pages to catch up on the latest news and "expert" pundit opinions on the beautiful game. I happened across the views of ex-footballer, Stan Collymore, and his very own weekly column entitled: "Stan the Man".

My initial reaction to his view that "Fernando Torres is top class, but Liverpool must get him some help" was the usual shaking of the head in distaste. With good reason I might add because this is an article that also claims "Liverpool are becoming a two-man show, with Steven Gerrard and Torres".

So Fernando does have support and help then Stan?

I immediately knew that I would be writing an article in response to the stupidity of this "expert" pundit. I knew it wouldn't be too taxing to write because this season Liverpool have four players in the top 20 Premier League goalscorers list, whilst Chelsea have two, Arsenal have two, and United have one.

Why do Liverpool need help for Torres if the team has scored 22 goals so far, with the Spanish striker bagging just eight of them? I certainly know for a fact that the apparently invisible Dirk Kuyt contributed to more match winning points than Steven Gerrard did last season. But how can that be if Liverpool are a "two-man team"?

However, whilst researching for my hatchet job of "Stan the Man"; something I read got me thinking (makes a change, I hear you say)

Scrolling down to the comment section of the fantastically well-researched article, I actually started feeling a bit sorry for "Stan the Man". Nothing but abuse and ridicule from supporters ripping apart his arguments with the ease of someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

I started to wonder what I would feel like if that was my article and people where "extracting the urine" out of me. I pictured "Stan the Mans" face getting more and more disappointed with each comment he read, as he sat empty and huddled over his laptop in a darkened room.

I felt like I would be kicking "The Man" whilst he was down if I wrote my article. I then realised my angle should not be the views of a money-hungry third-rate hack, desperately trying to fulfill his contract by churning out recycled garbage.

Instead, I believed my question should be: Why do Editors allow very low quality work to be printed in a national newspaper? Low quality work from someone they are probably paying over the top wages, simply for the ex-footballer/turned "expert" pundit tag.

If I was an Editor, I would much rather pay a decent wage to any number of highly reputable fan journalists that patrol the internet. Their opinions tend to contain information that's actually been researched and not designed simply to get the web traffic numbers up.

I don't need the newspaper I read to be filled with ex-footballers and their opinions, it's not a requirement I strive for. There is a belief that simply because they played they game; they automatically qualify as experts with opinions we all apparently must hear.

I would much rather the editors steer clear of "experts" like "Stan the Man", and instead concentrate their efforts on providing decent unknown internet writers with the newspaper column inches they undoubtedly deserve.

I truly believe we really don't need (or want) the opinion of Stan Collymore. But i'm now a firm believer we certainly don't deserve the "expert" opinions of the pundits that newspaper editors seem to think we do.

Stoppage Time Debate: What Happened To a 90 Minute Game Of Football?

Jamie Ward — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:49:01 -0400

We all know about Michael Owen's controversial game-winning goal for United against Manchester City. We've listened to the explanation's from the Referee's in defence of the situation. I'm sure you have seen, or even taken part, in the heated debates across forums already.

This is'nt a new problem thats slowly creeping in to the game. For a long time people have had a feeling that the "top four" have curried favour with some referees, in regaurds to more than just mystery minutes added in stoppage time. I have always wondered why the issue at hand could not be solved with one simple solution.

Stopping the clock when the ball leaves the field of play.

The moment the whistle is blown for a foul, the clock is stopped. As soon as the linesman's flag is raised for a throw-in or corner, the clock is stopped. Once the ball crosses the line and the referee gives a goal, the clock is stopped. It can't be much simpler than that, surely?!

All that's needed is an offical sitting in a control room with monitors and speakers. When the flag is raised, or the whistle is blown, then the clock is stopped until play resumes. Once the allotted 90 minutes is complete, the on-field referee is informed and the game is over.

The final whistle blows regardless of what is happening on the pitch.

I thought I would open this up to debate and find out if there are any reasons why this could not be put in to practice.

Paul Tomkins: What Does The Future Hold For The LFC Journalist?

Jamie Ward — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:21:15 -0400

This has certainly been a difficult start to the season for Liverpool FC. After much optimism for the new campaign, buoyed by a fantastic end to last season, many "supporters" have already started to turn on the players and manager.

There are some who have kept a level-head during the teams' patchy start, whilst it appears others have given up after just four games.

It would seem being calm, optimistic, and having the common sense to understand the bigger picture, makes you an easy target on discussion boards. LFC forums are filled with "supporters" who seem intent on blowing things out of proportion and attacking those who choose to remain positive.

It is a challenge to remain calm, explain why now is not the time to panic, and not lose our temper when overly negative people choose to ignore the facts of reality.

One dedicated supporter who has found it difficult to remain calm, and continued to provide opinion that doesn't conform to the typical knee-jerk sensationalistic journalism, is Paul Tomkins.

Those who know about Paul will know of his health problems. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome makes it practically impossible to hold down a full-time job, which has led to Paul carving out a career as a journalist and a football based author.

Critically acclaimed by many of his peers and fellow journalists, Paul Tomkins has provided Liverpool supporters with sensible, insightful, and thoroughly researched pieces for a great many years.

But as the fatigue has gradually worsened, combined with the difficulty of publishing your own books in this economic climate and defending the club and his opinion against the fickle nature of fair-weather supporters; the situation has called for a rethink on how to maintain an income.

The idea now is for a subscription based blog that provides supporters with premium content ranging from serialisation of his recent books, incentive schemes and discounts, and regular up to date articles and podcasts.

There are no figures set in stone as yet, just a gauge on how Paul's followers would take to the idea and how much they would be willing to contribute for the content.

For more information on what would be available and what subscribers would be getting for their money, click here for the Paul Tomkins Blog.

"Hang in there, you're easily the best writer about LFC around." - Anu

"You're one of the best Liverpool FC writers around, so good luck whatever course you take mate." - GW

"I've been a big fan of your writing for a long time Paul so I hope you find a solution for the problems you are currently facing." - Gary

" I, like many others, will rue the loss if you drop out of writing about LFC." - Mike

"Frankly you've taught me more about Rafa than any other commentator out there and from what I've seen, only the likes of Jonathan Wilson can seriously compete with you for intuitive analysis of tactics." - Nicholas

"Others have said how reading your comments have helped pick them up. Well I concur. I was particularly annoyed after the Villa game and your article popped up!" - Matt

"Keep at it old son...someone's gotta, and you're easily the most eloquent and insightful amongst us!" - Andy

"All I can say is that you have built up a readership who appreciate and value your thoughts and analysis." - Zeb

"I'm one of your more recent readers and cannot recommend you more highly to fellow Reds. In a culture of poor reporting and even poorer public understanding of football, it's hard to find writers who actually scratch beneath the surface of the game." - Brendan

"If there is anything we can do that you think may help then let us know - after the trouble you went to for our LFC Charity night last year it would be the least we can do." - John, Editor of Anfield-Online and LFC Reds.com

Click here for Paul Tomkins Books:

Golden Past, Red Future (2005)

Red Revival (2006)

The Red Review (2006)

An Anfield Anthology (2006)

Above Us Only Sky (2007)

Dynasty Fifty years of Shankly's Liverpool (2008)

Compendium (2008)

EPL Roundtable Part 2: Salomon Gonzalez, Willie Gannon, Jason Halfpenny

Jamie Ward — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:40:00 -0400

We all know preseason just doesn't cut it. So whilst we wait for the real football to kick-off, why don't you spend some time reading the ramblings of some of B/R's finest.

Find out who Chelsea fan Salomon was concerned would be joining Liverpool this summer; discover which TV boxsets Spurs follower Willie recommends; and which United player does City supporter Jason consider to be a great signing.

Intrigued? Then read on...

1. What is your club's best bit of business so far this summer?

Salomon: I have extreme confidence in Ancelotti after our successful pre-season (so far) and I love Zhirkov already. The way he took his goal and worked alongside Lampard and Deco on his debut was satisfying to watch.

Chelsea's best piece of business though, so far for me, is Daniel Sturridge.

He, like Zhirkov, made the most of his debut and scored a great goal. Not only that, he played a great part in the second goal. Since then, we've also seen Di Santo up his work rate and get on the scoresheet himself, which he eventually did. At only 19, with the right guidance, I see Sturridge becoming a Chelsea legend.

Willie: I don't really think Spurs have done any good business yet. The Crouch signing is a good one, as were the two lads from Sheffield United. But the real dealing will be on who gets sold. If Spurs can get £10m plus for the likes of Darren Bent and David Bentley, then Harry deserves a statue to be erected!

Jason: Carloz Tevez

2. What has been your rival's best business so far this summer?

Salomon: I'm not exactly sure if we can label Man City as a rival club just yet, but let's just do for argument's sake. It still wouldn't be any of their many signings. Man United signing Michael Owen is the one that got me worried as a Chelsea fan.

Looking at United, he's already got four goals in pre-season so far. A genius act by a genius manager.

Willie: I suppose most people see Arsenal as Spurs' main rivals, and they've been quiet in the market. I suppose in a tongue in cheek way, them selling Adebayor has moved them closer to Spurs than the other way around.

Realistically, there haven't been any real good deals by any of Spurs' direct rivals for 4th to 7th. I suppose you'd have to say City for signing everyone.

Jason: Antonio Valencia.

3. What business should your club be doing before the window closes?

Salomon: It's very simple. Chelsea should have signed Lionel Messi. I'm kidding of course! I'm fairly happy with our squad right now and if Sturridge and Zhirkov hit the ground running, then no more additions is needed.

We also have a certain Joe Cole to come back, which will be like a new signing.

Willie: Selling the deadwood. I nearly burst a hernia when Zokora was sold for £9m! If they can get anything like that for the likes of Bent, Bentley, and Pavlyuchenko, I'll be a happy man.

Of course they need significant strengthening, especially in central midfield and out on the left, so I'd like to see Vieira come in as a stop gap and then bring in someone decent for the left.

Jason: They are doing it.

4. What are your highlights during the offseason so far?

Salomon: Definitely, the highlight so far has been Dani Sturridge and his performances. He has been saying all the right things too.

He said this after his debut (which he scored): "I'm delighted to get off the mark. Playing alongside players like Lampard and Drogba can only mean good things for my career. I'm not coming here expecting to play every match but when I do, I will show just exactly what I'm capable of."

Bringing Sturridge to Chelsea was an act of genius.

Willie: I'll go with Michael Owen going to United, only because I predicted it around six months ago. Other than that, Real Madrid playing against Shamrock Rovers was a real highlight on a personal level.

Jason: Seeing Vladimir Weiss playing regularly.

5. What do you think has been the low point of the offseason so far?

Salomon: I was really worried that Tevez might join Liverpool. I was also worried when I saw Adebayor linked with Chelsea. The ultimate concern, which I feel dragged on for far too long, was Man City's pursuit of John Terry and his prolonged silence on the issue.

Glad he's finally spoken out and put us out of our misery.

Willie: Nothing really stands out to be honest. I don't see the transfer fees being spent as being a huge issue. Money has been the driving force in the game since professionalism was brought in in the early 1900's and most people were saying the same things then that we're saying now.

For the EPL, because that's what I've grown up with, the worst thing to happen is the economy and the downfall of sterling. It means that the very best players will be very reluctant to move to England because they will earn more elsewhere.

Jason: Nedum Onouha getting injured.

6. What has been the bargain transfer in the Premier League so far?

Salomon: Bargain of the summer (so far) has got to be Michael Owen for free. Also think Inter Milan got an excellent deal when they received £30 odd million & Eto'o for Ibrahimovic. Eto'o is just as good as Ibrahimovic, if not better.

Willie: There's only one. Michael Owen. Outstanding signing of a great player.

Jason: Gareth Barry.

7. What on earth have you been doing without football?

Salomon: Been spending time back home in Denmark. Its been great.

Willie: Keeping up with my coaching and pushing for a higher badge. Holidays in the sunny southeast, management courses and trying to understand how time moves quicker as you get older.

I'd also take this chance to recommend two television series that I've watched on boxset. The Wire (the best TV show ever made) and Dexter, great stuff.

Jason: Family life.

8. With the Emirates Cup in mind: Should attacking football be rewarded with a point per goal?

Salomon: No! The system is great just the way it is.

Willie: Nah, the game is good the way it is. I suppose it could be looked at like Rugby, where you get a bonus point if you score more than three goals. But I think there are other more important areas to be looked at.

I don't agree with replays being used but I would like to see the referee having to look at the match the next day, where he could rescind cards that he thought were wrong or issue cards for offences like diving.

Maybe even a citation system like Rugby where teams can suggest specific instances be looked at.

Jason: No.

9. Can you predict the top seven places in the league on Christmas Day and in May.

Salomon:

Christmas Day: Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa

May: Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Everton, Tottenham

Willie:

Christmas Day: Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, Man City, Spurs, Arsenal, Sunderland

May: Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs, Everton

Jason:

May: Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Everton, Arsenal, Aston Villa

So there you have it. Now that you have read this article, you are ten minutes closer to the start of the new season! Good times!

Thanks as always must go to Salomon, Willie, and Jason, for taking time to participate in this EPL roundtable.

If you would like to read the first part of this Roundtable, which involves Maire Ofeire, Salaar Shamsi, and Carolina Tiger, then Click Here.

Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid: The Liverpool Defender Says Deal Is Close

Jamie Ward — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:10:56 -0400

Liverpool right back Alvaro Arbeloa has told a Spanish newspaper that a move to Real Madrid could be completed this week.

The former Madrid player has publicly stated his desire to move back to Spain and play for the club he left in 2005.

The Spaniard tells Marca, "I insist that everything is going forwards and everyone is in agreement, I am the one who has the most desire to sign for Madrid."

Currently on holiday in his native country, he insists the deal could be finalised in the next few days.

The switch to the Bernabeu looks imminent in a deal believed to be around £3.5 million, resulting in another tidy profit for the Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez.

Arbeloa goes on to say, "I don't know what the likelihood is in percentages, it's a question more for the clubs. But, as I understand, it seems everything is going well and there is little left to resolve."

The recent signing of Glen Johnson was the signal for many supporters that Arbeloa was heading for the exit door, but there are some who believe this would be the wrong time for the Spanish International to leave Anfield.

After a solid display last season, Arbeloa was one of the more regular starters during a well fought title run by Liverpool. The right back position was a weak link for Benitez, after Philipp Degan missed his entire first season with injuries.

Javier Mascherano, Jamie Carragher, and Martin Skrtel were all utilized as cover for Arbeloa when he needed to be rested.

This season many were hoping that Arbeloa would become a very worthy backup to Glen Johnson, and the position was now an area that could be considered complete. But with Arbeloa's departure seeming a certainty, Benitez may be back to square one with only the 20-year-old Steven Darby as the recognised right back.

Jay Spearing has spent some time during preseason playing in Arbeloa's position and has looked pretty good going forward. It may be an area Benitez feels he can give his young reserve players the chance they deserve.

But the Liverpool manager has always claimed the fullback areas are key in attacking teams who are compact; and get everyone behind the ball, something that halted Liverpool's dominance of the Premier League last season.

Benitez has recently said there may be another signing or two before the window closes, and it now looks like the right back position will need to be addressed once again. Liverpool lacks a little quality in depth in some areas of the pitch and losing Arbeloa could be a step backwards.

Not a great thing, when this coming Premier League season requires a step forward.

UPDATE: 10:15am 29/07/09: Liverpool have agreed a fee with Real Madrid for the sale of Alvaro Arbeloa pending a medical and personal terms between player and club

Hypocrisy From Alex Ferguson and The Supporters Who Defend Him

Jamie Ward — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:59:29 -0400

Who would have thought it? Alex Ferguson verbally attacks another manager for their arrogant behaviour, only to go and do exactly the same thing himself. His latest mumblings really are "beyond the pale."

But the Scotsman's latest verbal attack, or mind games as some would try to make you believe, is nothing new. It is old and irritating—much like Ferguson himself.

Normally, the United manager would leave his "mind games" until the tail-end of the season hoping to derail his rival's title charge, or before another team's crucial games. But it seems he just couldn't wait that long before getting out his famous little book of hypocrisies, and his smug little grin that smacks of a disturbed old man, lost in his own delusions of grandeur.

If you speak to a few less-than-intelligent United or Everton supporters about Rafa Benitez, amongst other rabid ramblings, they will be quick to tell you how arrogant the Spaniard is. They will harp on about an incident from a couple of seasons ago where Rafa claimed Everton was a "small club."

Notice how I used quotation marks when I wrote "small club."

Quotation marks, as you undoubtedly know, are used when a person says the exact words mentioned within the quotation marks. So, if you had not read the orginal quote from Rafa Benitez, you would rightly assume that he said the words "small club" when talking about Everton.

Read a few headlines or articles from national newspaper about the "small club" incident, and you get the same intentionally misleading paraphrasing and misquotation that you get from idiotic football supporters, reveling in their ingrained hatred that has been passed down from previous generations.

Arrogant Liverpool manager calls Everton a "small club."

What Benitez actually said was: "When you play against the smaller teams at Anfield you know the game will be narrow and compact and at times we were a little bit nervous."

No mention of the word "club" and no mention of the word "small" either.

If you listen to Ferguson's moans about Benitez and the incident, without hearing the actual quote from the Liverpool manager beforehand, you would be forgiven for thinking Benitez really did say what many are trying hard to make out.

Ferguson confidently states: “Benítez called Everton a small club, which just points to his arrogance," as well as "'Everton are a big club, not a small one which Benitez arrogantly said," (this quote came two years after the original "small club" incident).

This brings us nicely back to the subject at hand.

Manchester City have constructed a sky-blue billboard with the words "Welcome to Manchester" under a picture of their new signing, Carlos Tevez. Many have read into this as being a subtle dig at United, and Ferguson's response to this was to say: "It's City isn't it? They are a small club with a small mentality, all they can talk about is Manchester United."

Manchester City have won the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice, and the top flight English title on two occasions.

City are without doubt, in terms of honours, a smaller club that Manchester United. But to state that city is a small club can be considered quite arrogant and a touch disrespectful, surely?

If Ferguson is going to tell the world and his wife how "arrogant" Benitez is for saying Everton is a smaller team than Liverpool, then calling City a small club, according to Ferguson's very own moral standards, must be ridiculously worse than what Benitez actually said.

But for me, the disturbing thing is not the senile "mind games" of an old man paraded as an angel, but the way some United supporters consistently jump to Ferguson's defence and incredibly ignore any form of hypocrisy that pours from his mouth.

I love football. I am a massive supporter of football.

I think Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world and last season they had one of the best squads ever constructed in English football. They play some sublime football and a major contributing factor is the intelligence and ability of their manager of 23 years, Alex Ferguson.

But I still hate the man.

Not because I'm jealous. Not because I'm biased. Certainly not because I support Liverpool. But because these are the type of people I despise in everyday life. The arrogant people who appear to believe they don't have to follow the rules of decency, and rules the rest of society is expected to adhere to.

I would lay my house down, if those same blind and in-group bias-led United supporters—who ignore the contradictions and hypocrisy that would make many other club's supporters whince—were to have Alex Ferguson as their employer or school teacher, I'm pretty certain their attitude towards his arrogant and contradictive behaviour would be considerably different.

But whilst he is leading the club to success after success, it's easy for some to just turn a blind eye.

It's even easier for those who know the score when it comes to the "great" man and his "mind games," and are happily, and intentionally, backing the manager for the sake of a pathetic football rivalry.

EPL Roundtable Part 1: Maire Ofeire, Carolina Tiger, Salaar Shamsi

Jamie Ward — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:52:44 -0400

We all know preseason just doesn't cut it. So whilst we wait for the real football to kick-off, why don't you spend some time reading the ramblings of some of B/R's finest.

Find out what Arsenal supporter Maire really thinks about Adebayor; What Man United fan Salaar has to say about Liverpool's summer spending; and what happens when you hold down Hull City follower Carolina Tiger and threaten to spit in his mouth.

Intrigued? Then read on.....

1. What is your club's best bit of business so far this summer?

Maire: Tying Robin van Persie down to a long term deal. He had said all along that he wasn't stalling because of money but because he wants success.

If he wasn't going to at least challenge for it at Arsenal he would need to move, which one can understand given what point he is at in his career and what a good player he is. His signing shows that Arsenal must be on the right road otherwise he would have moved.

Apart from that, selling Adebayor. I don't care what anyone says—Arsenal fan or not—he is lazy and was disruptive in the dressing room. He can go kiss City's badge, they are welcome to him.

Besides getting £25million into what is a restricted transfer budget from a player who will be off to play in the African Cup of Nations in January, isn't a bad bit of business is it?

Carolina: We ain't done any yet. Our one signing so far was Steven Mouyokolo from Boulogne, France. He is a very talented young central defender but we signed him in January, with the proviso that we wouldn't take him till summer as Boulogne were pushing for promotion.

Salaar: Manchester United lost two massive stars during the summer, the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez may have significantly weakened United's attacking options but despite gaining 80 million pounds from Ronaldo's move to Madrid.

Sir Alex Ferguson hasn't been to keen on splashing the cash. Antonio Valencia was brought in from Wigan for some £17 million, Gabriel Obertan, a relatively unknown French prodigy swooped up from Bordeaux for £3 million but personally, I think Michael Owen's signing has been United's best bit of business.

Owen was signed on for free after his contract with Newcastle expired and has signed a pay-as-you-play deal which makes him an absolute steal for the Red Devils.

There is no doubting the sheer talent that the ex-Liverpool forward possesses although a string of injuries have enforced a recent slump in Owen's career but if he remains fit, Owen is a threat to every defense in the Premier League and he is willing to wait for his chances unlike Tevez.

2. What has been your rival's best business so far this summer?

Maire: There seems to be more leaving the EPL than joining it at the moment. Obviously everyone is looking towards Manchester City with the signings of Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, and Barry, which is obviously going to strengthen them considerably.

Apart from that, Alex Ferguson's capture of Michael Owen on a free could be a stroke of genius while Wigan's signing of youngster James McCarthy could be a master shot by them if he is as good as claimed. He can add to the team while if it all worked out could be sold on for a large profit, a bit like they did with Valencia.

Carolina: I am struggling to see the best bit of business for anyone just yet. The huge amount of cash in the Premiership due to Manchester City's oil Sheikh means prices have gone even more crazy than normal.

However, if you were to pin me down and threaten to spit in my open mouth with a really long drooling piece of spit if I didn't tell you, I'd have to say Stoke signing Dean Whitehead from Sunderland. At £3 million, he isn't too expensive and he is a very good holding midfielder that will be a leader for a club that are building steadily.

Salaar: From United's rivals, Manchester City have literally splashed the cash a la Real Madrid. They have boosted their ranks with the signings of Tevez, Adebayor, Santa Cruz and Barry though I reckon, the best of business from one of United's rivals has been done by Liverpool in signing Portsmouth's Glen Johnson.

Johnson's deal is believed to be in excess of £17 million but he has significantly developed as a player over the last two seasons. He is solid defensively and has a daunting impact when he darts down the right flank, he also has a knack of cutting in to test the keeper, his prolific displays for both Pompey and England have raised a few eyebrows.

3. What business should your club be doing before the window closes?

Maire: Pretty easy question to answer regarding Arsenal, add grit and defensive steel. One part of that has been done with the signing of Thomas Vermaelen, but I'd like to see more grit in midfield.

Carolina: It's no surprise but we are desperately trying to sign strikers. Last season we were woefully short in the final third for the second half of the season.

So far, as many will know we have been rebuffed by Fraizer Campbell from Manchester United—who chose to join Sunderland and sit on their bench rather than play for us—and Marc Antoine Fortune who chose to join Celtic.

He can get a couple of games of European football each season rather than a fantastic game each week in the Premiership. We just need to keep plugging away and try to sign a striker or two.

Salaar: After the signings of Obertan, Owen and Valencia, United's transfer business for the summer is more or less complete. As Sir Alex refuses to pay Europe's inflated prices, it is unlikely to see another arrival at Old Trafford this summer.

There has however been speculation of adding some defensive cover for the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand with the someone like Sevilla's Federico Fazio, who I think could be a decent signing, in the long term.

4. What are your highlights during the offseason so far?

Maire: My personal highlight so far has been the return of Tomas Rosicky after 18 months out against Barnet. I don't think people realize how good a player Tomas is and what he can offer Arsenal. My hope is for him to start about 15 games and be a valuable squad member.

Real Madrid playing against Shamrock Rovers was good too, gave Irish football a bit of a boost.

Carolina: The unveiling of our new kit for the season. A beauty if you ask me. As for other clubs; Manchester City buying the world's top players for a season of mediocrity unless they sign some defenders they will implode and Hughes will be on the dole.

Salaar: Wayne Rooney coming forward and pledging to replace the likes of Ronaldo and Tevez provided a useful bit of inspiration for the Red Devils.

Arsenal seem quite pleased to have offloaded Adebayor, they have strengthened themselves defensively with Vermaelen but they need to attract a forward, who is known for scoring goals week-in and week-out.

5. What do you think has been the low point of the offseason so far?

Maire: Samir Nasri's injury. Just when it looked like Arsenal were getting everyone back to full fitness he suffers a fractured leg.

Hopefully though, Tomas Rosicky will be fit enough to play over the next two months. Arsenal's start is crucial and we need the players to be fit and ready to hit the ground running.

Carolina: For the Tigers I'd have to say, Campbell choosing to join Sunderland over a team that were willing to offer more money and give him a chance to shine in the Premeirship, against a team that he has no real guarantees of first team football.

The mind boggles at times over players and their choices.

For our rivals it has to be the silly money swirling around at the moment. I am just flabbergasted to be honest at the money that is been asked for players that are so very ordinary.

Yet, they will still have multi-million pound price tags or the most ridiculous wage demands. It makes me long for the Championship and the football league at times. At least it is more grounded and less of a super rich playground that small clubs have a chance of surviving in.

Salaar: Real Madrid have taken the spotlight, it might be all glitz and glamour for now but the signings of Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, and Raul Albiol have stunned the football world. Whether they succeed on the pitch, is another story.

Man City have followed suit and it will interesting to see if it is proven, once and for all that money can not buy glory.

6. What has been the bargain transfer in the Premier League so far?

Maire: Michael Owen to Manchester United.

Carolina: Whitehead to Stoke a great bit of business by Tony Pulis.

Salaar: Economically, Owen's move to United is up there. But I think Greg Halford's £2 million move to Wolves from Sunderland was one hell of a bargain, as I think Halford is a massively underrated player.

7. What on earth have you been doing without football?

Maire: Watching re-runs of last season and counting down the days.

Carolina: Too busy to really worry. Started a new job and in the process for relocating to another area. Time waits for no man as they say.

Although, living in the States I enjoyed the Confederations Cup, the Americans were chattering about it all the time which was great.

Salaar: To be honest, over the summer, the weekends have become terribly dull, just can't for the action to begin again!

8. With the Emirates Cup in mind: Should attacking football be rewarded with a point per goal?

Maire: It wouldn't work, as nice a theory as it sounds. Defending could go by the wayside and then the game wouldn't be as good. Arsene Wenger suggested a method whereby if you win by three clear goals you get an extra point, thus attack is promoted but the team has to defend too.

Personally I think it should be left the way it is.

Carolina: NO! That's why teams get three points for winning and not two anymore.

Salaar: No, that is ridiculous. These kind of changes may ruin the beautiful game, keep it as it is, for now.

9. Can you predict the top seven places in the league on Christmas Day and in May.

Maire:

Christmas Day: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester City

May: Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City, Fulham

I'm a Gunner, what did you expect?!

Salaar:

Christmas Day: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Manchester City

May: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Burnley, Wigan

Carolina: Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Aston Villa, Spurs

So there you have it. Now that you have read this article, you are ten minutes closer to the start of the new season! Good times!

Thanks as always to Maire, Carolina, and Salaar for taking time out of their busy schedule to provide us with their contributions.

If you would like to read Part Two if this EPL roundtable, with contributions from Salomon Gonzalez, Willie Gannon, and Jason Halfpenny, then Click Here.

Rafa Benitez: A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liver Party

Jamie Ward — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:34:43 -0400

This is a party political broadcast by Rafael Benitez on behalf of the Liver Party:

I believe in Liverpool. It is a great club with a great history. The Liverpool people are a great people.

But I believe Liverpool Football Club can and must be better: a better youth academy, better medical care for our players, better ways of dealing with opposition, of building a modern self-sustaining club, of equipping ourselves for a new football economy.

Our vision is one of renewal, a club with drive, purpose, and energy. New Liverpool is a club of ideas and ideals, not an outdated ideology. I want a Liverpool that does not shuffle into the new era afraid of the future, but strides into it with confidence.

I want a club that is one club: the fans, the players, and the manager.

One club with shared values and purpose, where merit comes before privilege, run for the many not the few, strong and sure of itself at home and abroad.

A club built on a strong foundation of players and staff members with the right mentality. Players and staff members who ask every day: Why does this happen? Why does that happen? What can we do to fix it?

We are always questioning, always looking for new solutions, new ways to proceed. We pay attention to all the details.

The Liver Party Ministers and their roles at the club

Deputy Leader: Sammy Lee

Following on from traditions deep rooted in club history, we have recruited the local-born Sammy Lee as a worthy deputy to the manager. He brings with him the typical heart and fire that has been synonymous with Liverpool for many generations past and still to come.

Sammy has motivation in abundance and he is always on the front-line, encouraging the players and supporters towards success.

Secretary of State for Recruitment: Kenny Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish is a longstanding supporter of the party, and has recently joined the backroom team. His role, as well as an overseas ambassador, is to aid in finding the future players that will suit our vision and ideology, and driving forward their development.

We are changing things at the Academy, we are bringing in new ideas and new people but we're keeping the spirit and the heart of the club. Kenny Dalglish is perfect for his role and If you're looking for somebody to go around the world on behalf of Liverpool Football Club, then I don't know anybody better than Kenny.

Secretary of State for Defence: Jamie Carragher

Another Liverpool-born member who possesses the motivation and determination that we strive for when recruiting to our cause. Jamie is very well suited to his role as minister of defence and is known world-wide as a leader in his chosen field of expertise.

We build our tactical framework on a strong mentality that requires quality and intelligence. Jamie Carragher has both quality and intelligence, which enhances the ability of everyone around him.

Secretary of State for Health Care: Mark Waller

A wealth of experience that has kept Mark dedicated to the club for 16 years and committed to its future for many more to come.

Medicine is evolving almost on a daily basis. We always keep up to date and try to keep ahead with what the new medical trends are. Our health-care workers try to do everything they can to keep the everyone in the best shape possible.

The commitment from all of the medical staff is very high. Our healthcare workers are always in at least six days a week and sometimes can go two or three weeks without a day off, if necessary.

Secretary of State for Education: Mauricio Pellegrino

To become a great educator, you must first have learnt yourself, and Mauricio has been at the top of his game for a great many years. He has picked up accolades and experiences from all over the world, which helps better shape his current role.

Our success is pivotal with education, and Mauricio Pellegrino is an important part of the club’s future, as he maintains the very best standards when it comes to training and education.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: Eduardo Macia

The Spaniard is chief scout for the club and is responsible for scouring the footballing world for players with both the potential and character required to play for the club.

We search all over the world for players who have the right mentality. it's how the player acquits himself on the field which is the most important thing and whether he has the winning attitude that we are trying to instill.

Secretary of State for Energy: Paco De Miguel

The fitness coach works closely with assistant manager Sammy Lee and technical analyst Angel Vales in drawing up training programmes. Though they work in two-week micro-cycles, patterns of training are planned an entire season in advance.

De Miguel's responsibilities are not just confined to the training ground. He and assistants Gonzalo Rodriguez and Gerard Nus also coordinate the work the squad carries out in the gym.

The fitness and energy of the players are vital in maintaining the style of play we implement and also the commitment required during every second spent on the pitch.

I want to build a club that moves forward and strives to ensure a secure future structured on solid foundations.

A major part of my vision for success, alongside that of Kenny Dalglish, is the regeneration of our youth academy. This will produce both revenue for the club from player sales, and the right type of player with the right type of mentality—all playing to the same tactical framework, from youth to senior level—to maintain a smooth transition into the first team.

And I want, above all, to lead in a way that brings our club together, that unites us in facing the tough and dangerous challenges of the new football economy and changed supporter society in which we must all work and adapt to.

Liverpool is on the right track and we will not change direction, neither will we rest on our laurels. Next season is an opportunity to build on the progress we have already clearly made.

Everyone wants a club which we feel part of, a club whose future we all have a stake in, a Liverpool we can all be proud of.

Our case is simple. That Liverpool can and must be better.

Rafael Benitez: Leader of the Liver Party and Minister for Tactical Analysis

(This article is meant as humour and 95 percent of all text in this article has been taken from the 1997 Labour Party manifesto, and the official Liverpool web site. Some words have been changed to suit the article.)

Liverpool Preseason: Can You Name The Starting Lineup Against St. Gallen?

Jamie Ward — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:11:47 -0400

Phone Sky and tell them to put the sports package back on and inform your girlfriend there will be a lot less quality time together, because football is coming home.

Preseason couldn't come soon enough as we are eager to see if Liverpool can continue its impressive momentum from last season, right through in to the new campaign.

The 2008-09 season provided us with a great many highs, but it also brought with it the despair of going so close to winning the league title.

Liverpool are finally maturing as a complete football unit. The team under Rafa has always been built on a solid foundation, with Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia pushed all the way by the future Liverpool pairing of Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.

That impressive defensive lineup has already been added to this summer with the arrival of Glen Johnson. The new signing will hopefully address the issue of extra depth and provide that something special going forward from the fullback position.

Liverpool's frontmen certainly stepped up last season as the team finished as the league's top scorer.

But with the departure of Robbie Keane in January, many supporters believe—despite an amazing goal-fest after Keane's exit—that Rafa needs to bring in another striker as backup to Fernando Torres.

However, with the arrival of more players to Anfield looking unlikely at the moment; will this be the time our reserve players will shine?

The Liverpool second-string has some promising future starlets in the making, with both the club and supporters alike in hope of them coming of age.

This is a time when Liverpool need both cash injections from the sale of some reserve players, and the introduction of others with quality into the first team.

Players like Emiliano Insua, Nabil El Zhar, Steven Darby, and Jay Spearing, have already shown they have the ability to provide competition for places on the pitch.

Added to that are Daniel Pacheco, Krisztian Nemeth, San Jose Dominguez, and Adam Hammill all who are expected to come-of-age very soon.

With so much talent already in the first team and a very promising group of youngsters coming through the ranks, it's going to be difficult guessing what the starting lineup might be against St. Gallen.

Can you pick from the squad list and name the starting eleven players that will take to the pitch in Switzerland?

If you are a Sky or XXL Virgin customer you can now watch the whole of Liverpool's preseason live and FREE on the club's very own TV channel. Setanta has gone into administration so Liverpoolfc.tv is now being broadcast for free until the start of the new season.

Media Myths: Why We Have To Continue The Fight Against Propaganda

Jamie Ward — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:30:13 -0400

"If you do not read the paper, you are uninformed. If you do read the paper, you are misinformed."—Mark Twain.

As we get older, we start to notice things that probably would have passed us by in our youth. We would listen to football pundits tell us their opinion and there would be no indication of anything untoward. For many of us, things reported on TV and read in national newspapers were considered to be fact.

It was almost like the idea that everything our parents told us was the truth.

At a young age we couldn't even comprehend the notion of ulterior motives from commontaters, biased ideologies from the media back-pages, and downright slanderous misrepresentation from sports journalists, designed simply to shape, lead, and change our opinions.

We listened, we read, we believed. We had no reason to think otherwise.

"Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves."—Eric Hoffer

Of course, school taught us about the use of propaganda during the great wars; but semi-interesting history lessons were a far cry from watching John Craven's Newsround or sneaking a quick read of the back-page football stories in the local newsagents.

It was difficult to link historical events from 60 years ago to our very own, modern-day reality.

You do however reach a time in your life when your eyes are opened to the truth, and this brings with it a realisation of a hidden world of subtle manipulation posing as your friendly journalist or well-known media organisation.

For some of you, its a gradual thing, brought on over the course of a few hateful newspaper stories about your club. For others, it hits you suddenly. Just one propagandist article that makes you truly wonder how on earth such obvious lies could be published and labeled as fact.

Either way, it's not a nice feeling. That realisation of being led up the garden path.

"The biases the media has are much bigger than conservative or liberal. They're about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover."—Al Franken

We all know the world doesn't revolve around the sun, it revolves around money. Personal wealth drives most people to the edge of decency before greed eagerly pushes them over. Shameless destruction of people's lives and biased misrepresentation by the majority of media outlets, all pretty much boil down to two very simple things.

Money and power.

They either want to make easy money out of you; or manipulate you towards their own ideology. In some cases, it's both.

Sensational headlines about a teams star player, sells to those who can be easily led. Lazy journalism is rife in a world of "experts" who claim fact through ommision of the whole truth. And the world wide web fans the flames of a social problem that can turn supporters against their own club.

The power to manipulate entire social groups is far to easily obtained in the age of the internet, and anyone with access to a computer can dress up biased opinion in such a way, that many would happily take it on board without realisation of being controlled.

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."—John F. Kennedy

Tell enough people a lie and eventually it becomes a myth. Get the right person to tell that lie and that myth will certainly become truth. Get the right person to tell the right people that mythical truth, and you will ensure that a young generation will grow up with that ideology hardwired in to their belief system.

You only have to look to the reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy, and the war on terrorism to witness that theory in effect.

Get enough believing in a myth, then it will only aid in applying pressure to the situation, or the person, the propagandist is trying to turn the tide against. Once those disinformed supporters have been swayed; their complete belief in the myth will make them fight even harder, as they look to recruit others to the cause with their own, misdirected opinion.

Myth can, more often than not, take the form of slanderous, ad nauseam, accusations based on half-truths. They are designed to give that person just enough knowledge to believe in the myth, without them feeling the need for further scrutinizing.

The media myth about Rafael Benitez' transfer policy can go some way to showing the biased misreprsentation of half-truths.

"When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser."—Socrates

We all know that if you throw enough mud, inevitably some of it will stick. Eventually, slander turns to myth, which in turn leads to wide-spread false beliefs of the truth.

But slander doesn't just have to be petty name-calling or vicious rumors. It can just as easily come in the form of lies and disinformation which are implied to be factual.

The whole incident between Sam Allardyce and Rafa Benitez can be seen as slanderous behaviour, with the clear intent by Allardyce and Ferguson of trying to create a negative light for the Liverpool manager.

If someone is offered information which allows reason to act in accordance with their own motives, then that person will gladly take that opinion on board—no matter how slim the evidence—without question.

Rival club's supporters are happy to believe the words of Sam Allardyce and Alex Ferguson, and that will only add to the ideology that is being shaped by these antagonists. The media bias in certain corners of the world are happy to pedal lies and slander in the hope of swaying social opinion, which is why more and more false stories, half-truths, and propagandist myths are force-fed to the public, everyday.

Some fans are happy to sit back and accept that there is no sense in fighting such a large-scale wave of propaganda. But whilst people are being manipulated without realisation; it's up to those who know the truth to fight back, inform the unknowing, and slowly convince people they are being led in the wrong direction.

"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."—Abraham Lincoln

Arab Sheikh Buys Majority Share of an Unnamed Premier League Club

Jamie Ward — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:36:52 -0400

A leading Emirates news agency today claims Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi of the Ras Al Khaimah Department of Customs and Seaports, has purchased 60 percent of a leading English Premier league club.

Reports have also said the Sheikh will become honorary life chairman of the unnamed club after the takeover is fully completed and made public.

Reuters UK have also picked up the story, broken by WAM late on Sunday 21st June, and reports that a press conference will be held at some point this week revealing further details and the club's identity.

The speculation about the unnamed club has spread like wildfire across football forums already up-to-date with the breaking news.

UAE's The National newspaper have speculated about the club in question, and claim that Sheikh Ahmed will be collaborating with Sulaiman al Fahim in the forthcoming takeover of Portsmouth.

The announcement of Sulaiman al Fahim's takeover of the South Coast outfit was announced last week, but he is currently awaiting legal and financial due-diligence investigations before the deal can be fully finalised for 100 percent control of the club.

However, supporters believe the unnamed club is not Pompey because it is unlikely two Arab powerhouses would be happy sharing the club amongst themselves, and the little profit to be made from joint ownership. There is also the unnecessary act of silence by the parties involved for a club that is already publicly being taken over.

Another leading candidate is said to be Merseyside club, Everton, solidified by Toffee's chairman, Bill Kenwright, saying he would happily stand down for the right investors in order to take the club forward.

Although, it's being questioned by forum followers as to why the new suitors would only offer to buy just 60 percent of a club, with no serious opposing rivals to ownership, that could easily be bought for the full amount by such wealthy backers.

Liverpool are also being highly considered as likely candidates, with serious unrest between the current American owners, and the impending arrival of refinancing the £350 million loan taken out to purchase the club, a power-struggle that has been played out for the last four years looks to be nearing an end, according to some followers.

There has been apparent information from inside the Anfield corridors, suggesting the Liverpool has actually already been bought out by an Arab franchise, but the club are keeping it quiet in order to acquire summer targets before transfer fees rise astronomically.

The calm demeanour of Rafa Benitez during the last few weeks when discussing transfers and money matters, alongside comments like "we may break our transfer record" this summer, have gotten Liverpool supporters really believing something is happening behind the boardroom doors at Anfield.

There is also the recent resignation of Liverpool Chairman, David Moores, who some believe is part of the terms from the new possible takeover.

The next few days and weeks will have many Liverpool supporters on the edge of their seats as they hope to see the end of the American owners' reign with the club, and new investment from Arab consortiums are, once again, being welcomed with open arms.

Liverpool FC: George Gillett Agrees to Sell Montreal Canadiens

Jamie Ward — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:56:44 -0400

With 50 percent ownership in Liverpool hanging over his head, and banks to appease with substantial loan repayments, it's being reported George Gillett has been offered around $550 million for the shares in his ice hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens.

The deal is said to include Gillett's 80.1 percent stake in the Canadiens and their home stadium, the Bell Centre.

The new owners will be Hartland Molson and the Molson family, who also own Canada's largest brewery. The sale will have to await the approval of the NHL governing body before the deal can be finalised.

"Our family has been very proud to be associated with the Montreal Canadiens over the past eight years and particularly to be a part of their Centennial season," Gillett said. "I am fully confident that the Molson brothers, who have been a great part of the heritage of the club, will ensure the preservation and development of this great sports institution."

The Liverpool co-owner put the Canadiens up for sale earlier this year to help re-finance the debts of KOP holdings limited and the loans taken out with RBS and Wachovia.

It is also claimed Tom Hicks is keen to offload some of his own sporting franchises in a bid to commit to the future of Liverpool Football Club.

Mascherano to Barcelona: What is Javier's Agent Playing At?

Jamie Ward — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:34:25 -0400

It has been widely reported that Javier Mascherano's agent has had a two-hour long meeting in Spain with representatives of La Liga Champions, Barcelona.

Javier's agent, Walter Tamer, claimed in a recent Spanish radio interview the deal is a strong possibility and would apparently be welcomed by the Argentinian midfielder.

"I believe a transfer can be done. I've spoken to (Barcelona technical director) Txiki Beguiristain about this."

"It is an honour for Javier that a club like Barca pay such close attention to him, especially after the incredible season they had. I believe that a transfer would be feasible. If Barca really want him, he will sign for them."

This comes against quotes by Rafa Benitez that the he has spoken to Mascherano personally, as recently as last week, and the Liverpool player has once again stated he is very happy staying with the club.

"We do not want to sell, and Javier is very happy here. I have spoken to Javier two or three times this summer, the last time was only last week, and he was very happy, very positive."

Last month, Mascherano himself publicly stated his desire to stay at Liverpool: "My future is here. I am here and I will continue to give 100 percent and it will always be like this."

The media machine has put their typical spin on the subject, with subtle placements of key words like "unsettled Mascherano" and misleading headlines claiming that "Mascherano wants to leave for Barcelona" or "Mascherano has talks with Barca."

None of which are true of course, as it all seems to stem from wayward comments made by Javier's agent and not from the actions of the Liverpool midfielder or anything he has actually said.

Walter Tamer has been hinting and suggesting things that are already pretty obvious—most players would welcome a move to Barca—and things that just appear to be massively incorrect—"If Barca really want him, he will sign for them."

However, according to Tamer in his recent phone call with Benitez, Barca already do want to sign Mascherano, and it's also well known they have been chasing his signature since 2007.

Despite this interest, Mascherano has still made it clear on more than one occasion he wants to stay with Liverpool.

So why would Tamer go to all of this trouble to make out that Mascherano would be happy to leave for Spain? Why is Tamer meeting with Barca representatives if his very own client has stated his future is with Liverpool?

For awhile now it has been whispered that Mascherano's pregnant wife would prefer to move to a Spanish-speaking country and raise their family there. But whether this would affect where Mascherano chooses to play his football remains to be seen.

His wife may be well be unsettled in Liverpool, but the player is clearly not unsettled playing for the club.

There is a possibility that Mascherano is secretly orchestrating a move away from Liverpool by using his agent as a mouthpiece, whilst appearing loyal to his current club by publicly stating he wants to remain at Anfield.

With Liverpool under some financial restrictions in the transfer market, there is the thought that Walter Tamer is using this uncertainty to manipulate a move to Barcelona; either for his own financial gain, or on behalf of his client.

There is also the belief that Mascherano is using this as a way of bumping up his wage-packet to mirror other first team members like Gerrard, Torres, and Kuyt.

They have all recently signed lucrative long-term contracts with the club, and people feel Mascherano would like to be up their with the other top earners, so is using the Barca talk as a smoke screen to increase his payments.

There is of course no foundation in these theories and are simply speculative efforts on behalf of the rumour mills.

Whatever the reason, it's clear the actions of Walter Tamer are causing problems for Rafa Benitez, as he fends off advances for both Mascherano and Xabi Alonso from Spanish clubs.

Benitez even spoke to Tamer on the phone to ask about the apparent interest from other clubs, to reiterate his stance on selling Mascherano, and also the opinion of his very own client.

"Walter told me that two clubs with big, big names were asking after Mascherano, and I told him to forget it, that Javier was happy in Liverpool and he was not for sale. So I was surprised to see the agent's comments.

"He has a long contract and any club can forget about bidding for him. They can offer £40m or even £50m, we don't want to sell."

Walter Tamer's recent interview for Catalan radio, RAC-1, has done nothing but increase speculation surrounding Mascherano.

Not only has it added even more pressure on the Liverpool managers already burden-heavy shoulders, but it has also cast a shadow on the integrity of Mascherano from some quarters.

He gives the impression that he and Mascherano have discussed the move in detail already by stating: "He would have a very easy job at Barca. Sometimes we talk and joke that the only thing he has to do is run, rob the ball, and pass it on to all the superstars in front of him."

Walter Tamer is either acting on behalf of his client and trying to agitate a move away from Anfield, or he is acting on his own accord and causing unnecessary problems for Benitez, Liverpool, and Javier Mascherano.

Either way, Liverpool supporters will be once again thankful when this transfer window is firmly shut tight.

Glen Johnson: Why Liverpool Are Making The Right Move

Jamie Ward — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:02:40 -0400

If today's reports are correct, then Liverpool looks set to capture Glen Johnson from Portsmouth with a fee thought to be in the region of £18.5 million. With some fans claiming this is the wrong move from the Liverpool manager, there are many who know this could be a positive step forward at quite a reasonable price.

The hefty transfer fee appears to be the sticking point for some supporters, who think £18.5 million is an amount that could be better spent on a pacey winger to unlock stubborn defences. However, it's widely known by top-class managers that skillful attacking fullbacks can also provide that extra dimension when going forward.

In response, other supporters claim the Johnson transfer will not actually equate to the full amount, because Portsmouth still owes £7 million from their purchase of Peter Crouch.

Crouch was acquired by Rafa Benitez for £7 million and sold on for a reported £11 million to Pompey, resulting in a £4 million profit. But the whole unpaid amount of £7 million would not be offset against the purchase of Glen Johnson. It would only be the £4 million profit from the sale of Crouch that would go towards the transfer fee.

This would bring the cost for buying Johnson down to £14.5 million.

Added to this is the reported sale of Alvaro Arbeloa back to Spain for £8 million. This is a direct replacement and upgrade for the right back position, and the possible £5.4 million profit made from selling Arbeloa would bring the Glen Johnson fee down even further to just £9.1 million.

Not a bad price for someone of such good quality.

Another positive for bringing Johnson to Anfield is his English nationality, something the Liverpool first team has been lacking of late, with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher the only definite English starters last season.

With the imminent arrival of a variation of FIFA's 6+5 rule, and the current UEFA rule of 4+4 for European competition, the arrival of the new England right back would certainly bolster the Liverpool first team with much-needed homegrown players.

Johnson has also broken back in the England setup, and with a good run under the current England manager, Fabio Capello, Johnson looks like he has nailed down the right back position for his country.

Another factor worth mentioning is Johnson's age, because at just 24, he is yet to reach his peak. It shows Rafa is also solidifying the building of the first team for the foreseeable long-term future by bringing in young players.

With the arrival of the Portsmouth player looking ever more likely, some Liverpool supporters are defending Alvaro Arbeloa. They believe he is doing a decent job and Rafa should not be thinking of moving him on from the club.

Arbeloa would make a very worthy backup to Johnson, but lack of funds means his departure is necessary. He is a solid defender who does a tidy job at the back and also has a decent cross.

However, going forward the Spanish squad player lacks imagination, and if he can't beat his opposite number, he will come back to the halfway line and feed the ball back to the central defenders.

Johnson is known for his attacking prowess, and going forward he definitely poses more of a threat. The forward-thinking right back could be a possible answer to breaking down teams who insist on getting all 11 players behind the ball.

Lately, he's shown a fantastic cross, and he certainly provides ample assists from the wing. Johnson is also confident at the back and would form a remarkable partnership alongside Jamie Carragher.

It looks very promising and definitely provides a bright future for Liverpool having the 24-year-old building a strong back line alongside Daniel Agger (24), Martin Skrtel (24), and Emiliano Insua (20).

Not only is Johnson recognised as being a fantastic talent for club and country, he also has massive amounts of Premier League experience, with valuable title-winning campaigns under his belt. He played alongside some of the best players in the world during his time at Chelsea and also had a wealth of experience under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho.

This only adds to the already long list of positives that Glen Johnson would bring to Liverpool if he completes his £18.5 million transfer from Portsmouth.

Andrea Dossena Asks Rafael Benitez for a Transfer Away from Liverpool

Jamie Ward — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:34:37 -0400

Sky Sports News reports that Andrea Dossena has today put in a transfer request to Rafael Benitez to leave the club.

The Italian international has made just 26 starts in all competitions for Liverpool and, after a disappointing spell at the start of the season, appears to have fallen behind both Fabio Aurelio and Emilliano Insua in the left-back position.

Considered by many as a good player going forward with a decent cross, Dossena always appeared to struggle in his defensive duties, and was at fault for crucial goals during Liverpool's best ever Premier League season.

The 27 year-old will always be remembered for his strikes against Manchester United and Real Madrid—both coming as a left-winger during late substitute appearances—but unfortunately in the same breath supporters will talk about his worrying lack of composure at the back.

If Dossena is granted permission to leave Anfield, Rafa Benitez will look to recoup as much of the £7 million paid out last summer as he can, with a return to an Italian club looking the most likely of destinations.

The Liverpool manager is well-known for quickly moving on players that have not settled as-well as originally hoped, and after a very disappointing debut season it looks like Andrea Dossena may be the first out of the Anfield exit door this summer.

With Liverpool under serious financial restraints due to large interest repayments, all income generated by transfers will be highly sought after.

The club will be looking to strengthen the squad this summer on the back of a very close-run title campaign, and it looks set that Benitez will once again need to sell players in order to purchase new signings.

Michael Owen: Would Now Be a Good Time to Bring Him Back To Anfield?

Jamie Ward — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:04:07 -0400

After his acrimonious departure from the club in 2004, Michael Owen is a player many supporters don't ever want to see in a Liverpool shirt again. But there are some more forgiving fans who believe now would be the perfect time for the 29-year-old to return to Anfield.

The Newcastle player is out of contract this summer and is available on a Bosman free transfer, but his £100,000 a week wages would have to be considerably slashed if the Chester-born striker has any hope of resurrecting his domestic and, more importantly for Owen, fading international career.

The next few weeks for Michael Owen could be crucial, and he is possibly about to make one of the biggest decisions of his career—especially if he has any hope of ensuring his club and international career don't fizzle out in disappointing fashion.

He left Anfield in 2004 in the search of European glory and the experience of a different football league. But after no trophies and just one season with Real Madrid, Owen returned to England in a £16 million transfer to Newcastle United, despite attempts by Rafael Benitez to bring him back to Liverpool.

Unfortunately for Owen, Liverpool's offer was nowhere near Madrid's valuation of the player and, more importantly, the offer on the table from Newcastle.

With the Magpies playing in the Championship next season, the club are looking to cut their substantial £75 million a year wage bill, with a mass exodus of their best players said to be imminent.

Michael Owen will be out of contract and desperately looking for options to return to the Premier League, with only Everton and David Moyes reportedly showing an interest in the one-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Touted as injury-prone and long past his best by many, Rafa Benitez has recently hinted there will not be an option for Owen to return to Liverpool.

He says Michael still has the potential to play at a good enough level to hold down a regular first team place, but with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard spearheading the current Liverpool attack, the Spaniard believes Anfield would not be the best place for Owen to resurrect his fading career.

Many Liverpool supporters appear unable to forgive Owen for what they believed to be a disrespectful departure from his boyhood club in 2004. His search for success, and furthering his career with experience in pastures new, appeared to fans as simply an act of greed for more money and trophies Liverpool were, at the time, not capable of winning.

However, there are still supporters who believe he had every right to further his career elsewhere and would welcome the club legend back with open arms.

Although there is no transfer fee required, supporters know Owen would have to take a considerable pay cut, and he must also be content with peppered appearances behind Torres and Gerrard, if there is any hope of seeing him scoring in front of the Kop again.

It is difficult to believe Owen has the ability to push for a top-four club and force his way into the starting 11 on a regular enough basis to make him happy. It would seem that a team a little further down the table would be his best option if his hopes of playing for England again are fulfilled.

But how many teams with aspirations of success will want to gamble and bring in a player with such a chequered history of injury-free playing time?

Despite long spells on the sidelines these past two seasons, Owen is still a goal every three games striker, and his experience as one of the best attackers in the world would be invaluable to up-and-coming youth players, wherever he decides to go.

If Owen is happy to reduce his wages and start from the bench more than he would like, then a many great teams should welcome him with open arms.

Liverpool included.

Fernando Torres' Secret Marriage Shock: Ceremony Is Not in OK! Magazine

Jamie Ward — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:58:56 -0400

Fernando Torres has not only signed a new contract extension with Liverpool recently, he is also now reported to have wed his long-term girlfriend in a secret ceremony.

The Spanish striker has been with his current partner for an impressive eight years already, and the long-term couple are expecting a baby girl this summer. Together since 2001, the childhood sweethearts decided to tie the knot in a small Madrid suburb with only two guests alongside them.

The low-key ceremony was conducted in a small town hall by a local councillor, close to where the 25-year-old was born.

Reported to be earning over £100,000 a week at the club, the normal behaviour for big-money football stars is a lavish and expensive ceremony plastered across every magazine and television programme willing to pay huge amounts for the privilege.

But as many Liverpool and Atletico Madrid supporters already know, Fernando Torres is a little different from your average football superstar, both on and off the pitch.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Fernando Torres, and good luck with the birth of their first child in two months' time.

Liverpool: Just Two Goals From Winning the Premier League

Jamie Ward — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:13:31 -0400

For all of the experts' talk of the multi-million pound United squad being the best in the world, and how far from quality in comparison Liverpool are supposed to be, just two goals would have taken the trophy to Anfield. Two goals.

Mention Liverpool's 2008-09 season and the first thing you will get in response from a large number of football fans is "Rafa Benitez lost it because of all his draws." He was "too defensive" in his tactics and "too negative" in picking teams.

In my opinion, Rafael Benitez played a near perfect season.

"Quite a bold statement," you're probably now muttering under your breath and of course there will be the usual comments of "desperate" and "delusional" from some of our troubled United readers. The ones still choosing to bury their head in the sand when it comes to accepting Liverpool are on the resurgence.

Liverpool's current 86 points would have won them the league on seven separate occasions over the last 14 Premier League seasons. But the title-winning bar has been raised so considerably, by the quality of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United over the last six years, that you have to go back to 2003 for that to have happened.

It is the second highest points tally for the runner-up position in the history of the Premier league, behind only the 88 points achieved by Manchester United in 1995. Liverpool were only one win and a draw away from claiming victory. Liverpool were just two goals from success.

Two goals to win the title looks like a near perfect season to me.

This is not about ifs, buts, and maybes, it is about gauging just how close Liverpool came to winning the league. Yes, the team could have run away with it if they hadn't had 11 draws and dropped points against teams like Stoke and Hull City. But the point is, 11 draws did not cost us the title.

Two draws cost us the title.

Or one draw and the loss against Spurs, but either way, it is nowhere near as far from success as some would have you believe. Whenever supporters and the media attack Rafa for all of his "negative" management, they casually mention the 11 draws like it was the bare minimum needed for the club to have won the league this season.

In reality, it was just two.

Two goals in just two of the 11 draws was the actual bare minimum needed to finish across the line ahead of Manchester United.

This is not me trying to spin statistics to suit my argument because there is no denying the fact that Liverpool needed just four points to win the title. Turning two draws in to wins gives you four points and requires scoring one goal in each match.

Therefore, Liverpool where just two goals from a perfect title winning season.

You will hear supporters offer the famous Shankly mantra that "second is nowhere," but in building a squad's confidence, and more importantly its experience, second is somewhere. Second gives the players belief. It gives them another necessary step toward that title and another inch closer to completing the hardest task of all.

Actually winning the league for the first time.

The closer you get, the harder it gets and when you are so near to dragging yourself across the finishing line, it really does come down to the very smallest of details. The perfect season that ends with the title can quite literally come down to needing just two more goals to win the Premier League.

The Spotlight: Abhimanyu—The True Essence of Community Spirit on B/R

Jamie Ward — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:50:12 -0400

The Spotlight series' makes a special return to pay tribute to one of Bleacher Report's hardest-working community members. AVR is well known across several community pages and his good-natured manner is possibly why he has fans in every single corner of the Bleacher world.

Abhimanyu Vinay Rajput has been a member for a little over seven months now and in that short space of time he has built up a very loyal fan base. His supporters appreciate the amount of effort AVR not only puts in to his own articles and comment threads, but also the work he does on behalf of other writers.

Abhimanyu is the true essence of community spirit on Bleacher Report.

"I thought you wrote a great article for one reason; you're inspiring people to never give up the dream of becoming a great writer. Great job; you got my POTD". —Sherman

Now, I'm not suggesting this relatively new writer is the best there is to be seen here on b/r, because there are so many names worth mentioning who work just as hard, if not harder.

But AVR—as he likes to be called—is without doubt a breed apart from the usual contributors and there is good reason as to why he is known in so many different communities on Bleacher Report.

With University final-exams rapidly approaching, the Liverpool supporting writer still manages to find time to read, rate and offer feedback on a great volume of work from his fellow community members.

His polite manner and mature outlook during interaction has lead to a great many friendships being forged and his wide ranging sporting interests ensure that his hard work is noticed across the boards at Bleacher Report.

"Thanks for letting Blaine know about my article, touch of class on your behalf. Much appreciated"—Willie

There was an idea by a columnist on Bleacher that was called the "Pass it On" scheme and involved people passing on favourite articles to at least one other person and asking them to do the same.

Abhimanyu has taken this idea head-on and ran with it to fruitful results for him and for others.

There is evidence of his work peppered all over the website and his Bulletin Board is filled with people thanking him for either passing their article on to others; or for sending them an article they really enjoyed, but would not necessarily have chosen to read.

"I plan to participate in "article passing" just as soon as I get caught up with my reading! —Blaine

His attitude and persistence in continuing the "Pass it On" scheme has been rubbing off on other writers and article-passing is starting to appear on many profile pages across the community.

In another key area of community spirit, AVR acts as the peacemaker where ever possible. He spends a great deal of time on comment threads offering opinions, ideas and trying to ensure that respect is maintained during heated debate.

He wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to supporting his club, but that does not get in the way of the bigger picture when it comes to talking about football or maintaining community spirit.

"Hey, thanks for the pick! :D Hope you're back and writing again soon..." —Emma

The majority of Abhimanyu's time is spent reading a great deal of articles on subject matters ranging from Liverpool, Real Madrid, La Liga, and the Premier League to Tennis, Andy Murray, the Dallas Stars, Formula One and women's football.

He always achieves what is required of a good contributor on Bleacher by rating articles appropriately, awarding Pick of the Day votes when deserved, offering opinions and comments—no matter how small or insignificant—and of course passing on great work to fellow scribes.

"Just finished your "Introduction of a lazy writer....." article. For that piece alone I fanned you. It is hard being original in a world of characters. Nice." —Glenn

Whilst many on Bleacher look to recycle breaking news or write articles on the obvious subjects currently in fashion; AVR likes to write from a different angle and find subjects that are not always attempted by the majority.

Articles such as "An Interview With Paul Tomkins" and "Kopites on Bleacher" show Abhimanyu's ability to mix community spirit with interesting topics during an interview format with a difference.

Whilst pieces such as "The Crazy Habit of Awarding POTD's" and "Would You Stop Writing on Bleacher Report If..." provide an insight in to how AVR likes to attempt subject matters we all experience, but might not think to write about.

"Thank you very much for the pick and the mention of me in your bio. I'm flattered. Appreciate it". —Todd

Abhimanyu has shown a remarkably selfless desire to help his fellow community members and his hard work can be seen in places you wouldn't expect to find him.

He welcomes new writers with warmth and a helping hand, whilst making sure the hard work and good nature of others is well rewarded by posting articles of note, or writers worthy of mention, on to his Bulletin Board for everyone to see.

Whilst many of us remain relatively anonymous to the larger population that inhabits Bleacher, Abhimanyu is certainly known by a larger percentage than the average b/r scribe.

"I wanted to extend my thanks to you for becoming a fan and for the POTD vote. It was my pleasure to help stick up for yours and Sarah's fight against the degrading of women on B/R. Hope to talk to you soon, and take care". —Heartbeat of the Bronx

He is seen offering praise in the Liverpool community to writers good and bad; asking questions in the wrestling community to further his knowledge of a new sporting interest; debating furiosuly about all things Andy Murray in the tennis community;or fighting for respect and decency in the foxes in the hen-house community.

More importantly, you will have no doubt witnessed AVR for yourselves, hard at work amongst your own articles and bulletin boards. That is why for me, Abhimanyu Vinay Rajput is the very essence of community spirit here on Bleacher Report and deserves to be in The Spotlight

Don't want to take my word for it? Well here are a small percentage of AVR's supporters with their own views...

"Do take care of yourself my friend". —Miah
"Just wanted you to know that I appreciate your support". —Steven"
Thanks so much for the continued support and the congratulations". —Heartbeat of the Bronx
"Thank you for showing me that article my friend". —Myles
"Abhimanyu, you my friend are a true warrior, salut!" —Sarah
"Thank you so much AVR, these are the kind of articles I truly enjoy, thank you in saving me time in looking for them!" —Blaine
"Thanks for being my friend". —Zahi

Andriy Voronin Back to Liverpool: Should We Keep Him or Sell Him?

Jamie Ward — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:17:40 -0400

The future of Ukrainian striker, Andriy Voronin was said to rest on Herth Berlin playing in the Champions League next season. However, with the Bundesliga outfit finishing just outside the qualifying places, it looks like the club will not be able to afford the permanent transfer of the Liverpool player due to the potential revenue lost after failing to reach Europe.

Voronin's first season with Liverpool could be considered a turbulent one with an apparent lack of confidence from some of the Anfield fans, the incredible form of the new £20 million signing, Fernando Torres, and a lengthy three month injury spell that put the brakes on a promising start from the free transfer.

As the return of Voronin to Liverpool in the summer looks more and more likely, supporters appear to be split down the middle as to whether having the experienced striker back at the club will have a positive or negative effect on next season's title campaign.

More importantly, supporters worry that Andriy Voronin simply lacks that much needed quality to push the team over the winning line they agonisingly fell short of this season.

The Liverpool No. 10 has said he believes the signing of Robbie Keane last summer led to him being unable to prove his second season at the club would have been a more successful one. With the departure of Keane back to Spurs and an inexperienced Ngog still learning his trade, it appears the opportunity to prove his quality to the doubting Liverpool supporters could well be back on the cards.

Liverpool forums have been debating the situation for a few weeks and some believe that now is the perfect time for the Ukrainian to return to the club.

At the age of 29, Voronin clearly has the experience of the game and has shown—with 11 goals from 20 starts in the Bundesliga this season—that the striker still has a keen eye for goal.

Many consider a backup striker for Fernando Torres to be first on Rafa's transfer list this summer, so it's suggested the return of Voronin to the club to play in that position would free up more funds to spend on another area of the team that needs tweaking.

But there are a few who would rather the £3-4 million from the sale of Voronin was put toward a better quality player instead.

There is of course what he will give to players like David Ngog, Daniel Pacheco, and Krisztian Nemeth who would certainly gain some valuable advice during training with Andriy Voronin—who has played alongside names such as Andriy Shevchenko and Dimitar Berbatov. However, there are some supporters who believe his return would make it harder for the youngsters on the fringes to get their chances in the first team.

It is believed that the experience of Voronin coming off the bench, instead of the relatively youthful David Ngog, would be a positive for next season, and it would certainly add another option for the Liverpool manager if key players were injured. But with the Ukranian claiming he does not want to go back out on loan, and he would rather stay and play or be sold to another club; would the returning striker be happy not being an automatic first choice for the majority of games?

With the reemergence of players like Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun this season, Voronin's options could be even less than he is hoping for in order to attract the interest of other clubs for his signature.

Added to his lack of confidence and lengthy injury during his first season at Liverpool, the player claimed some difficulty in trying to settle in England—he and his family claim they prefer living back in Germany. Some Liverpool supporters believe the recent comments made by Voronin in the media are an angle to ensure Rafa lowers the transfer fee being asked for from Hertha so that he can remain in the country he feels most comfortable.

There is a group of fans who do not wish to see him return at all, and doubt he will ever have the quality that's needed to help Liverpool turn draws in to much needed victories. But, reading through some of the forum discussions amongst the fans, there are many who have stated Voronin received some rough treatment last time around, and he certainly showed glimmers of quality that should warrant a place back in the line-up.

There is certainly reason to welcome Andriy Voronin back to Liverpool and there are, without doubt, some positives that come with him, but does the club really want a player who may struggle to settle again and appears to have his heart elsewhere?

Rafa Benitez and Liverpool: Why This Was a Great Season

Jamie Ward — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:37:27 -0400

There are a still a small pocket of Liverpool supporters who are unhappy with how this season has panned out, and they seem intent on pushing the idea that Rafa Benitez should be sacked immediately.

Thankfully, there is still a large quantity of followers who understand the meaning of support and, more importantly, the bigger picture that is unfolding at the club. It is all about progression and it is clear to a great many loyal fans that this group of players—and the backroom staff that help shape them—are moving in the right direction.

Thanks must, of course, go to everyone at the football club for an exciting and high-filled season that has brought a great many positives for both players and fans alike.

I'm sure we are aching to get next season underway and continue progressing down the road that will eventually lead us back to the top of the table. But whilst we await the new campaign, we can spend our summer looking back at the reasons why 2008-09 was a lot more successful than a few would have you believe.

Some supporters will still claim that the team came away without a single trophy, therefore the season was a failure. But as the rest of us understand, the bigger picture of progression clearly shows that winning trophies is just around the corner, belief and pride have finally been restored, and this season will always be remembered throughout the club's history.

Points totals and Records

With a final tally of 86 points, Liverpool have recorded the highest ever finish in their Premier League history. This is also the highest number of points in the top-flight since the title-winning side of 1987-88. The club's previous record for the Premier League was in the 2005-06 season when they finished third with 82 points—the highest ever total by a third-place team in the league.

This season's points total is seven more points than the 79 we achieved in the 1989-90 season, which is when we last won the league title. From the start of February onward, Liverpool recorded 38 points from the 45 on offer, as they finished their last 15 league games of the season with 12 wins, two draws, and just one loss.

Liverpool completed the season with a 2.26 points per game average which is the second-best ever average in thier 94 seasons in the top-flight. The best points per game average is 2.33 and it came in the 1978-79 campaign when the league played 42 games per season.

Liverpool were crowned "Top-Four" mini-league winners with a total of 14 points against Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United. The club had finished bottom of the mini-league in every season since Rafa's arrival and the 14 points amassed during this campaign was the total for all three of the previous seasons put together.

Goals Scored and Conceded

Despite the belief by many that Liverpool lack the depth in goalscorers with only Fernando Torres being considered the recognised striker worth mentioning for most, Liverpool finished ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea to end the season as the league's top scorers managing to put away 77 goals in 38 games. Our best since 1990-91 when we also finished second in the league with 77 goals.

Liverpool had an impressive 16 players registering on the scoresheet during this campaign, which is just one short of the club record of 17 set in the 1911-12 season: Gerrard-24, Torres-17, Kuyt-15, Benayoun-9, Keane-7, Alonso-5, Reira-5, Babel-4, Aurelio-3, Lucas-3, Ngog-3, Agger-2, Dossenna-2, Hypia-2, Arbeloa-1, Plessis-1.

Despite missing some parts of the season through injury, Steven Gerrard finished as the best goal-scoring Englishman in the league with 16 and also finished the campaign with the best goals tally of his career, previously standing at 23 in the 2005-06 season.

The team scored three goals in five straight games for the first time since 1987. The impressive goalscoring run came in the form of a 4-0 win over Blackburn, the 4-4 home draw with Arsenal, a 3-1 win against Hull City, and 3-0 victories over both Newcastle United and West Ham.

This run of league games also contributed to a first for the club, with a six-game streak in which we scored at least three goals. This is the only time this has happened in the club's history with a 4-4 Champions League draw along with the five games in the league.

Liverpool end the season being able to boast the highest goals-per-game average of any team in all four English divisions with 1.93. They will continue to hold this record unless Manchester United score nine in the Champions League Final or Chelsea score six in the F.A. Cup Final.

The team's attacking and defending heroics led to a very impressive goal-difference of +50. Ths is not only the best in the league this season, but also the best total for the club in 21 years, with the previous highest coming in the 1987-88 season when we amassed a total of +63.

Wins and Losses Records

The team managed to go the entire league campaign without defeat at Anfield. This was only the 10th time this has happened in the club's history, with the last time this happened coming during the title winning 1987-88 season.

Going unbeaten at Anfield all season means we extend our unbeaten run of games at home to an impressive 30 matches. This is the best run for 28 years and equals our fourth-best run in the club's history.

After 13 victories on the road, Liverpool have equalled the club record for away-game wins originally set in the 1904-05 season. Those 13 away wins have meant Liverpool have recorded their highest ever points total for away victories, as they notched up 43 points on the road. This was second only to Chelsea in the league who managed 44 points away from Stamford Bridge.

With the only two losses in the league coming against Spurs and Middlesbrough, it meant Liverpool managed their best league-losses record since the 1987-88 campaign. That was the season the club drew 12 games but still won the league nine points ahead of Manchester United in second place.

Liverpool became the first team in history to finish the season with two losses and failing to win the league title. Chelsea in 2006-07 and 2007-08 with Nottingham Forest in 1978-79 all finishing as runners-up having lost three times. Liverpool have lost only six league games over the last two seasons compared to Chelsea (8), Manchester United (9), and Arsenal (9).

Noteable Benchmarks

Liverpool ended Chelsea's incredible record-holding 86-game unbeaten run at home in all competitions, with a Xabi Alonso goal in the 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. With the 2-0 win at Anfield, the club also managed their first league-double over Chelsea for 19 years.

A Yossi Benayoun goal in the 1-0 victory over Real Madrid meant Liverpool became only the second English team to win at The Bernabeu. The return leg at Anfield saw Liverpool register Madrid's biggest ever Champions League defeat with an impressive 4-0 triumph. This was also the Spanish club's heaviest two-legged loss in the competition in 20 years.

This season's 4-1 victory over Manchester United was the club's biggest ever win at Old Trafford in an amazing 72 years. It was also the very first time four separate Liverpool players scored in the same game against the current Premier League holders.

Rafael Benitez moved ahead of Bill Shankly's 65 European games in charge benchmark and also broke Bob Paisley's 40 European games won record. Rafa also recorded his 100th victory as a Liverpool manager in just 181 games. This moves Rafa past Bill Shankly into third place and behind only Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish in the clubs history.

(all information taken from the offical Liverpool website LFC.TV)

Congratulations goes to David Gore, as he scoops the very first Anonymous Article Competition trophy with his winning piece on The January Transfer Window debate. Click Here to read his work as well as the article from second placed Maire Ofiere.

The Question: Should Liverpool Sign Carlos Tevez From Manchester United?

Jamie Ward — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:12:12 -0400

Just like Christmas starting in November, the annual media rumour-mill kicks off its summer season in mid-May with the usual speculative saturation of any headline they can get their hands on. The big story at the moment is Manchester United favourite Carlos Tevez.

According to the papers and the bookmakers—if Tevez does not stay at his current club—Liverpool are the front runners to sign the reportedly unhappy Argentinian. There is also the possibility of a contentious switch to Manchester United's inner-city rivals, Man City—with an outside chance for La Liga giants, Real Madrid to sneak in hijack the transfer.

But if Carlos Tevez decides to continue plying his trade in the English league; Is Liverpool the right club for the Media Sports Investments owned player, and do the Anfield outfit actually need him?

There are many Liverpool supporters who are clearly delighted at the prospect of seeing Carlos Tevez switching allegiances in the summer—albeit just to stick two fingers up at their East Lancashire rivals who consider Tevez a huge fan favourite—but there are some Kopites who believe, for many different reasons, he wont be signed, with some claiming he simply shouldn't join the club at all.

Do Liverpool have the money?

Economic downturn or not, there will still be some money in the transfer kitty from the American owners and there is certainly scope for some fringe players to be moved on to raise funds. Players like Pennant, Voronin, and Itandje will no doubt be shipped out with the hope by some that others like Dossena and Lucas will be cashed in on aswell.

There is the fear that because Liverpool normally have to raise funds by selling players that the team could possibly lose Xabi Alonso this summer. Many supporters saw the Introduction of a much needed Gareth Barry to the side last season leading to the exit of a favourite in Alonso. It appears the same fears are being raised again this year if Carlos Tevez and his substantial transfer fee would join in the Summer aswell as Gareth Barry at a much less fee than the £18 million reported last season.

An impressive season from Alonso has meant that supporters are even more adamant that he must stay at all costs and money should defiantly be raised from elsewhere. It is a stronger possibility now than it was last summer—after a couple of poor seasons from Alonso up to that point—that Rafa will not move his fellow countryman on and instead could look at other options like Ryan Babel or Andrea Dossena.

If Benitez does identify Carlos Tevez as an integral player to help Liverpool across the line and lift the Premier League trophy next season, then many will consider the hefty price-tag to be worth every penny. If the team does only need very minor tweaking in one or two areas then Liverpool are certainly perfectly within their means if they want to secure the signature of the Argentinian, said to be worth between £24-30 million.

Despite averaging around £40 million on transfers over the last few years, Rafa Benitez has had to be shrewd in the market and raise some of that outgoing by selling on players to increase his ability to spend in the market. But as the Spaniard nears completion of the squad rebuilding program that has needed massive overhauls in most departments on the field—upgrading players slowly season by season—he did previously have to spend his budget on several players in each window to achieve this model.

Is Rafa Benitez now at a stage where he can finally afford to spend £25-30 million on one player in order to add that much needed top-end quality to the depth the team lacks?

There is of course the worry that spending so much money on a player will become a negative purchase due to Carlos' desire to return to Argentina when he is around 29. This would mean Liverpool could have spent a rumoured £30 million on a player that would possibly not want to renew his contract in four years time. The resale value for the club would diminish considerably if they could not get him to extend his contract before he leaves on a Bosman free.

Another major stumbling block for some supporters to accept would be the wages that Tevez would expect. It is rumoured that he is already on £100,000 a week at United and there is talk that he would look to increase that figure if he signs for a new club. Something that would lead to another £25 million over the next four seasons on top of the substantial transfer fee already paid out to his third-party owners Media Sports Investments for the privelage to buy him outright.

However, if Liverpool are serious about buying that extra quality needed to compete with the depth of Manchester United, they will be expected to pay wages of such magnitude to top-drawer players or they will have to persist with lesser quality options who would require a smaller salary.

Many supporters—Liverpool and United alike—believe that despite Carlos being a good player with heart and passion who can certainly add quality to the squad; there are other players around who are better value for the £30 million it could cost to purchase him from M.S.I.

David Villa, Samuel Eto, Karim Benzema, and Sergio Aguero are names offered up by both sets of supporters as players, for possibly the same transfer fee, who would be a much better option in terms of quality, technique, finishing, and more importantly value for money.

The funds are certainly there for Liverpool to buy Carlos Tevez, but would it be a wise purchase?

Where would he fit in to the formation?

Liverpool supporters have become accustomed to Rafa's 4-2-3-1 formation over the last few seasons and many have asked if Carlos Tevez would be able to fit in to this set-up without upsetting the applecart too much. Many pundits claim Tevez plays his best football as a support striker, however this would mean that if Tevez played in his favoured position it would be at the expense of Steven Gerrard.

Tevez has been used as a wide midfielder/attacker at United in a 4-3-3 formation and has shown he can be affective in that position. However, this has been mostly out on the right with Wayne Rooney on the left, so if Tevez was to be used in a Liverpool formation it would suggest it would be at the expense of Albert Reira on the left due to Rafa's admiration of Dirk Kuyt on the right.

There is of course the extra option of having a player like Carlos Tevez who can play in a few different positions when needed. Tevez would have been invaluable for Liverpool this season when Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard were injured as the Argentinian would have fitted straight into either position comfortably.

Rafa Benitez certainly loves having options when facing the opposition and he likes adaptable players who can play in more than one position when needed. Carlos Tevez appears to fit this bill to a certain extent with the added extra of an incredible work-rate from the United player, it would seem a favoured option for Benitez.

It does of course throw-up the possibility of a 4-4-2 system with Torres and Tevez playing off of each other upfront, Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso spearheading midfield with Mascherano holding, and any number of choices for the wings from the remaining options available.

When players are rested then, in theory, Carlos Tevez should be able to play anywhere across the attacking line in place of Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard, and Reira, albeit, not as effectively in every place. There is of course the question of Tevez not being happy playing in his preferred position week-in week-out; but he appeared ok with this in his first season with Manchester United.

One of Tevez' main issues with his second year at United was not being considered one of the first or second choice strikers, and he found himself playing a bit-part role behind Dimitar Berbatov for most of the season. With the World Cup fast approaching it is obvious Carlos Tevez would want regular first team football to ensure his starting place with his national team, and there doesn't appear to be many players in his way at Liverpool like there was at Manchester United.

But that could be because there are not as many expensive world-class players in the Liverpool line-up like there is at United, who can boast nearly £100 million in attacking prowess when Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov, and Tevez all start. The four strikers together on the pitch is something that would be very hard to achieve in every single game, so it seems inevitable that some players will make way more often than others in the United line-up in the battle for places.

This season it has been Carlos Tevez.

It was habitual for people to attack Rafa Benitez over the last few seasons for an apparent constant rotation of players from game to game. But with Alex Ferguson not starting with the same team, two games in a row at any point this season, Tevez has found himself without the ability to get a good run in the side he had hoped for to aid with his performances. Benitez has seen a more settled approach to his team selection and there is definatly scope for Carlos Tevez to get more games at Liverpool.

What about his attitude?

Looking through some of the fan websites and forums it appears the general census is that the majority of supporters on both sides would welcome Carlos Tevez to their side on a permanent basis with open-arms. It simply appears that many believe the reported transfer fee of around £30 million is far too much for the Argentinian. Only a very small amount of people doubt his quality as a player and what he could bring to either club—claiming he is very over-hyped—with many stating a huge desire for their respective clubs to snap him up immediately.

People have mentioned his attitude off of the field to be a dubious one because he has changed his mind several times when laying down his allegiances to a "dream" club reportedly showing interest. He appears to have chosen money and success over anything else to some people, but there are few who would do things differently in his shoes.

More importantly, Tevez has always stayed consistent in his love of Boca Juniors and his desire to return there near the end of his career. So now would be a good time for Tevez to travel Europe and experience football in different leagues and at different big name clubs to make him a better all-round player.

What cannot be argued with is Carlos Tevez's comments about how he has been unfairly treated and disrespected by Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, especially at such a crucial point of the season for the club. With the final stages of the Premier League still unsettled at the time and a Champions League final against Barcelona a short space away, Tevez appears to have used the media to manipulate the situation in his favour it would appear.

However, many supporters will ignore this behaviour and focus on his attitude on the field, which is considered by many supporters—from Boca Juniors, Corinthians, West Ham, Manchester United and many more nuetrals—as incredibly hardworking and passionate. As long as he commits himself on the pitch professionally and with heart and desire to win, it will not matter to many fans if he plays for money or for love of the club.

Where ever Carlos Tevez and his owners decide they want to play next season, it will no doubt be surrounded by an intense following from the football world, and which ever club is lucky enough to win his signature; they should consider themselves very lucky indeed.

Even if it means stumping up £30 million.

FA Youth Cup Final 2009: Five to Watch—Liverpool

Jamie Ward — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:52:13 -0400

Friday May 22nd will see the first leg of the 2009 FA Youth Cup final between an up and coming Liverpool squad and the highly regaurded Arsenal youth team. The prestigeous competition was founded in 1952 and the showdown between the two clubs will mark the 57th time the trophy has been contested by the 15-18 year old players. Manchester United currently hold the record as the most successful team with nine trophies and Arsenal are a close second with six victories. The Liverpool youth set-up have currently won the competition three times in their history with two of those three victories coming in 2006 and 2007. Current champions Manchester City were knocked out in the semi-finals by Arsenal in a thrilling 6-2 triumph with Liverpool brushing aside Birmingham City in their own high-scoring semi-final with a 6-1 victory. With Bleacher Report writer Maire Ofeire highlighting the five players to watch out for in the Arsenal squad, we can now look at the five Liverpool players that should make an impact over the two games at The Emirates and Anfield.

Begin Slideshow

Progression: Liverpool Crowned Top-Four Mini League Winners

Jamie Ward — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:47:25 -0400

History normally determines that the winner of the "top-four" mini-league goes on to take the Premier League title with four of the last five seasons following this pattern.

It is widely considered that taking the most points from the other "top-four" teams is a vital ingredient in becoming English domestic champions, however with the current campaign just one game from completion, Liverpool run-away winners of the mini-league and Manchester United already being crowned champions, history will not be repeating itself this time around.

Since his arrival in the summer of 2004 Rafa Benitez has struggled to dominate games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United with only 17 points from the 72 on offer and finishing bottom of the mini-league every season.

But as the Spaniard propels the club steadily forward he has once again shown that he is on the right road to success with another progressive season that has seen an impressive turn-around against his "top-four" rivals.

Top Four Mini-League 2008-09

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points	League
Liverpool	4	2	0	14	7	14	2nd
Arsenal	2	3	1	10	11	9	4th
United	1	2	3	7	9	5	1st
Chelsea	1	1	4	6	10	4	3rd

Despite a poor run of results for Manchester United which saw them win just one game against their title rivals, it was their incredible performances against the other 16 teams in the league which ensured they won their third English title in three years.

The current league champions managed 26 wins and four draws from the 32 games against teams outside the 'top four' with just the one loss against Fulham and one more game against Hull City still to play.

Some have suggested that it shows Manchester United are not as great a team that many have lauded over the recent months when compared to the other top sides and the quality between the top three or four clubs is alot closer than United are probably comfortable with.

On their day, any one of the 'top-four' clubs can be considered the best team in the country.

But the strength in depth and the quality of the players involved at United have proven the key factor during an incredibly long and very hard fought campaign that has seen them fighting for honours in the Premier League, World Club Cup winners, FA Cup semi-finalists, League Cup winners, a second Champions League final in two seasons and UEFA Super Cup runners-up.

Liverpool's run of form over the last few months has seen an impressive attacking unit that has ensured they finish as the leagues top scorers and proven to many with dominant displays against Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Chelsea that they are finally being considered as genuine Premier League title rivals alongside being one of the best teams in European competitions.

Benitez has once again shown progression with his team as Liverpool record their highest ever Premier League points total and the possibility of finishing an agonisingly close four points from newly crowned champions Manchester United should ensure that next season will definitely be one to watch for Liverpool supporters.

And no doubt for Manchester United supporters aswell.

The Anonymous Article Competition: January Transfer Window (Results)

Jamie Ward — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:16:55 -0400

The first edition of The Anonymous Article Competition is complete and the much-anticipated identity of the authors and the results of the voting for round one are finally here.

An extensive amount of behind the scenes work, several months of military-style planning and an incredibly large and well trained ex-SAS security unit was put in to place to ensure the writer's identities remained a secret throughout the campaign.

The chosen subject was the January transfer window and the unknown writers had to submit their views on the controversial issue in anyway they felt most passionate about.

Luckily the two Bleacher regulars offered up arguments for and against keeping the mid-season transfer window and both articles were, as expected, packed with quality.

Unfortunately there can only be one winner.

Article No.1 finished in second place with 18.8 percent of the vote and was written by Maire Ofiere.

Article No.2 finished in first place with 81.3 percent of the vote and was written by David Gore.

Congratulations to David for his title-winning article which has been crowned the very first A.A.C winner. Commiserations to Maire for her cutting piece which, despite coming in as runner-up, oozes the personality of her much loved Bleacher work.

The first round of The Anonymous Article Competition can be found here.

The Anonymous Article Competition: The January Transfer Window Debate

Jamie Ward — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:01:16 -0400

Welcome to the first in what I hope to be a long-running series designed to bring through some quality articles that can be judged on content and substance alone.

The community spirit on Bleacher Report is fantastic and the reason why I love being here, but sometimes the articles we write can be mostly judged from a possibly biased group of our own "fans."

I hope that the Anonymous Article Competition will give Bleacher writers the chance to produce work that will be judged solely on what's written and not because they happen to be fellow supporters or community members.

Once the competition is complete and all votes are cast, then the respective authors will be able to publish their articles if they wish. It is obviously a work-in-progress and if it becomes a success, it will be tweaked to perfection as the series continues.

Hopefully, I shouldn't have to tell people that cheating is not accepted on any level and to quote the obvious cliche: "the only person you're cheating is yourself."

The basic rules to the competition are pretty simple:

No more than 500 Words on a chosen subject
No Cheating of any form, which includes telling others you wrote the article

So without further delay it is time to get down to the serious business of reading some quality articles from two of Bleacher's notable contributors. This Edition will cover the contentious issue of the January transfer window.

Article No. 1

What a ridiculous idea this is, whatever bright spark it was that came up with it. Either leave transfers occur all year round or just during the summer months, not halfway through a season.

Typical of the powers that be that they allow such a destabilising event to carry on during what is often the most important month of a long and draining season.

When the window was introduced, the whole point of it was to create a level playing field among the big and small teams. The likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan could only buy players in allocated times and not at any time they choose.

But has it worked? No, the same thing is still in evidence.

AC Milan pick up an injury to key personnel in November so just buy an extra player or two in January. The same happens at a club like West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League and they don’t have the resources to do so.

Of course Real Madrid signed players outside the transfer window, although they could only play them from Jan. 1, so what’s the point?

The big fish are still benefiting.

Then you have the owners of clubs who are not doing so well in the first half of the season, so they sack their manager in December so the new man can work some kind of miracle by bringing in players in the January transfer window. Often this effect is only temporary, and the club lumbers on for the rest of the season.

Added to that, you have the dreaded rumour mill.

If there are allocated times for transfers, then there should be allocated times for the mass media to come up with their stories of who’s moving where.

I suggest this should only be allowed in the summer months, when there is no football to speak of and the media can fill their spaces with the usual dross.

Hold your hands up if you are sick of hearing that Ronaldo has had secret meetings with Real Madrid, Cesc Fabregas is off to Barcelona, and Kaka loves Jesus too much to sell his soul to the highest bidder.

With the internet, club channels and twenty four hour news dedicated to football it is bound to have a negative effect on players who are declaring their loyalty to a team only to see the media linking them with every Tom, Dick and Harry of a club.

Then of course you have fans getting on their backs if they believe the media rumours and the players want away. How does that help anyone?

Either have the window open all year round or slam it shut. It is not entertaining, and it is not beneficial to the football community at large.

Personally I think the squad you begin with should be the squad you end with.

Article No. 2

This year, just before the closing of the summer window, Manchester City was bought out by the Abu Dhabi group, thus instantly making them the richest club in world football.

Like lightning, the new owners threw cash at some of the planet’s biggest names, but it was too late.

Most of the players, settled in their Champions League clubs, had no intention of moving, and their clubs didn’t have the time to shove them out of the door before the summer transfer window closed.

Since they’d wasted so much time offering the gross domestic product of a small African nation on players they had no chance of capturing, City had failed to utilise their newfound wealth on realistic targets.

Between September and December, the instability at the club left them struggling in away fixtures, and by the time January came around, they’d learned from their mistakes.

The club then signed quality and proven “next step” players. Craig Bellamy and Shay Given came in. Sure, there was another attempt at a super-player in the shape of the doomed Kaka move, but this is my point.

Had there not been a transfer window system in place, Manchester City could’ve been working on targets from other clubs from September onwards.

The most valuable players from some of Europe’s elite clubs would’ve been tempted to leave, clubs would’ve been tempted to force them out, and fees higher than anything we’ve ever seen would’ve been flying around all season long.

In other words, Manchester City would have turned European football upside down. The transfer market would have been destabilized, possibly beyond repair and to the point of implosion, as they out-bid everyone on Earth.

And for me, that’s the point of the system: to check the spiralling transfer madness as much as is legally possible, and stop the richest clubs from buying goals when they need them.

Clubs are forced to make do with what they have. If their squads encounter injury woes, they look to their reserve and youth systems for cover. If they have new stars rising through the ranks, they can hold on to them (and the results they help to get) until the next window opens, and a bigger club steals them away.

Clubs have to be more careful with signings. If they fail to capture a player in the summer, or find they’ve bought a dud, January comes around to give a brief chance to tweak a team, or to send young players on loan to lower league teams in need of players.

Above all else, it gives a period of excitement for the fans. Moments like Robbie Fowler’s return to Liverpool. Intrigue about whether Arshavin will sign for Arsenal.

A chance for a team on the slide to fix the damage, or a team on the up to boost their chances, for a short period, before they have to make do with what they have again.

It all adds to the mystique, and the glorious hopes of football.

John Aizlewood Says Liverpool Supporters Are Excessively Sentimental

Jamie Ward — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:30:00 -0400

John Aizlewood is apparently an "award-winning author, writer and broadcaster" who "scrubs up quite well and always speaks in proper sentences." John also kindly informs us he knows "the difference between it's and its." What John's insipid blog-bio doesn't tell us about is John's worryingly obvious xenophobic attitude.

John's self-indulgent blog-bio also doesn't educate the reader about his Victor Meldrew outlook on everything from "having to carry a laptop too far across a car park" and "having to share a press-room with non-journalists" to "having to wait for his free, luke-warm pie longer than should be expected" and "writing an article before a game has finished, only to have to re-write it when (shock horror) a goal or two is scored in the final 10 minutes."

Victor, sorry, I mean John, does however happily explain his strong feelings about, amongst many other things, the city of Liverpool. The "award winning writer" believes that Liverpool supporters are "weakly and excessively emotional and foolishly sentimental" in their mourning of the dead.

He unashamedley depicts how the city of Liverpool "will always be the place where teenagers give away their unwanted babies and then spend the rest of their lives regretting it" with John proudly stating that "this city's curious mix of mean and maudlin means it could never be my kind of place. Never ever." John loves Liverpool, honest he does.

"Colin from the Sunday Express gives me a lift to Putney Bridge, the tube's full of drunken Scousers." —John Aizlewood

Thanks for that pointless and irrelevant piece of information John. People in Liverpool drink and use trains. Call the police.

John Sees Dead People

John "Award-Winning" Aizlewood's latest blog entry is simply entitled "I see dead people."

Was this latest offering—from the writer who thinks it's worthwhile noting that he can write and speak in full sentences—about his assignment to a local morgue? Or perhaps it was an indepth film review about Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense? Well, it was infact John's labourius experiences of attending a League game between Liverpool and Blackburn that just-so happened to precede the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster by four days.

John confidently remarks on how the Liverpool supporters are in a mawkish and belligerent mood as the rapidly approaching anniversary of the day fellow men, women and young children where crushed to death thanks to the mistakes of several people in charge of safety during the game.

After the "leading football correspondant" complains about the "hostile and hopeless" Anfield stewards and the "mawkish and maudlin" Liverpool supporters, he tries to imply that the Hillsborough families are hunting for "closure" masquerading as "justice."

"People are still seeking closure, or as they put it "justice" —John Aizlewood

Of course the man who "has interviewed almost every major pop music figure of the last two decades" doesn't stop there. He tries to belittle the mourning of the Hillsborough dead by comparing it to the Hysel disaster and claiming that nobody here [Liverpool] speaks of the victims of the that disaster and their families' suffering.

"The pain is still raw, just as raw, I'd imagine, as the pain of the relatives of the Liverpool fans' Heysel victims is in Turin, but nobody speaks of them here." —John Aizlewood

John then moves on to a favourite subject of his which, judging by some of his other blogs and articles, he clearly enjoys writing about. John apparently loves it when Rafael Benitez is in "cocky gibberish mode" despite John never being able to fully "undertand what he says." He proudly claims the foreigner is "covertly bonkers" and "brought up Alex Ferguson without prompt."

"I don't understand his [Benitez] reply, but he smiled at me, so the answer was probably yes." —John Aizlewood

Apparently the "award-winning writer" has "no idea" as to why Rafa would bring up "Sir Alex Ferguson" again and he doubts "Rafa knows why either." It is strange that such an acclaimed writer has such a selective memory when it comes to "Sir" Alex Ferguson and it's interesting that there is rarely any meldrew-type criticism for the British-born, Manchester United manager from the propagandist, John Aizelwood.

The Xenophobic Article

The Sunday Times has felt it perfectly acceptable to publish John Aizlewood's latest article that is fundamentally underpinned with a xenophobic attack on a foreign manager. The article boldly claims the Spaniard has given an interview to John and the "multi-award winning" writer has instead created a deluded version of his desired response and laced it with a large amount of subtle and not-so subtle digs at the Liverpool manager.

The article not only consistently mocks a Spanish-born man attempting to speak English but also throws-in a few cultural stereotypes as humour.

"...he [Ferguson] is attempting to bait me [Benitez] into saying something rash, into responding like a bull to a red rag (ah, sweet blood-stained memories . . .)" —John Aizlewood

The stunningly biased article is simply one big fallacy hiding behind humour, but clearly rooted in the "journalist's" true feelings which are evident in many of his other ramblings. The Ad Hominem approach to addressing the points raised in his article are basically a straw-man fallacy that does nothing but discredit someone in a blatantly biased manor and completely failing to address anything near the truth in any of the issues he mocks.

But it was obviously not the intention of John "I love Rafa" Aizlewood to produce an article filled with truth or factual balance.

The fact that The Sunday Times have felt this article is within any standards of decency is slightly worrying. But perhaps not when you realise that The Sunday Times is in fact part of the Rupert Murdoch News Company that also owns The Sun newspaper.

Shy Sam Allardyce, Angelic Alex Ferguson, and The Evil Rafael Benitez

Jamie Ward — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:05:01 -0400

It is a moment like this that I wish I wasn't a Liverpool supporter. Not because I am embarrassed or ashamed of something our manager has done. It is because my article or opinion can't be lauded as biased.

If I supported Manchester United my opinion would be exactly the same. If I supported Blackburn Rovers my opinion would be exactly the same. If I hated football, you guessed it, my opinion would be exactly the same.

Alex Ferguson is one of the biggest hypocrites this game has, or will ever see and it looks like Sam Allardyce is trying his hardest to emulate the United manager.

If your not upto date with the current episode of Home and Away (that's the Premier League soap opera, not the Australian serial drama on Channel 5) then your missing out on the latest round of the Benitez vs. Ferguson saga.

Judging by the reaction of a "humiliated" Sam Allardyce—with the unexpected inclusion of comments from a usually media-shy Alex Ferguson—the Liverpool boss has simply taken things so far in his personal attack of the Blackburn manager and his team that an FA inquiry for bringing the game into disrepute will surely follow very quickly.

When I got home from work and switched on Sky Sports News the headlines suggested that our manager had finally cracked (before you say it, no, he didn't crack up earlier in January) and passed comments that where so derogatory about another club or manager, that I really would struggle to believe or defend it.

Just reading through some of the comments made by Alex Ferguson and Sam Allardyce and anyone would probably come to the same immediate conclusion I did when I first heard about the situation.

The United manager doesn't normally enjoy the media spotlight but this time he truly felt that the behaviour of his Liverpool counterpart towards his close friend, Allardyce, warranted him to offer his opinion on such a disgusting display from Benitez.

The gobsmacked United manager shyly speaks to the reporters and states: "...arrogance is one thing. You cannot forgive contempt, which is what he showed Sam Allardyce last weekend." He finishes his unrehearsed speech with: "In my experience no Liverpool manager has ever done that. It was beyond the pale."

Beyond The Pale: Unacceptable; outside agreed standards of decency.

Just reading those two comments alone and your imagination would be racing to all sorts of conclusions. Rafa spat at Allardyce? He gave Big Sam the finger? He whispered in his ear after the match that he should give up wearing suits? He pointed and laughed at "Big Sam's" earpiece? He ran along the touchline with his finger to his mouth, offering a chance for the Blackburn manager, the squad and their fans to shut up?

The comments from a "humiliated" Sam Allardyce continue from where the shocked United manager left off: "I was hugely disappointed by those gestures. I think they were disrespectful and quite humiliating."

The fragile Blackburn manager continues by saying: "you don't expect those sort of things to happen in a game of football. I was very, very upset by it."

For those who know absolutely nothing about the latest act of evil behaviour from the Liverpool manager; after reading the comments so far, you must surely be thinking something horrendous has taken place and surely, surely, Benitez will be reprimanded for his obviously disgusting acts of contempt towards the angelic Sam Allardyce?

Well I guess I had better divulge you with the gory details of that fateful day which saw the pride and honour of a respected football manager smashed to pieces by a horrible "foreigner" who had the sheer audacity to show any form of emotion in the presence of the people's prince, "big" Sam Allardyce.

Rafael Benitez smiled (the main news story should be that Rafa actually smiled) when his team scored a goal and made a small hand gesture/signal towards the pitch and in the opposite direction of Sam Allardyce.

Have you finished laughing yet?

Propaganda: is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.

Propaganda often presents facts selectively, thus lying by ommision, to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented.

Back to the main reasons for this article. Firstly, Alex "I am clearly suffering from dementia but no one cares whilst we're winning" Ferguson.

At this point it might be interesting to note that Ferguson's comments on the issue became public pretty much the same time Sam Allardyce had offered his opinion on his "humiliation." It makes you wonder what the conversation between the two managers could have been prior to informing the world on "Big Sam's" feelings.

Let's start with the most obvious of his fallacies, according to the papers this is what Ferguson said: "...[for Allardyce] to get that kind of contempt...I don't think any other Liverpool manager would have done that"

Without even needing to browse Wikipedia or Google to find all sorts of facts and quotes to prove these "claims" by Ferguson to be completely wrong. I know off the top of my head that one Liverpool manager in particular routinely showed "contempt" towards another football club.

Bill Shankly is pretty well known for saying such things as: "When I've got nothing better to do, I look down the league table to see how Everton are getting along." and "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains."

A Liverpool manager showing arrogance and contempt? How can that possibly be if the messiah that is Alex Ferguson claims that he doesn't believe a Liverpool manager has ever done it?

The "Mindgames Master" goes on by saying "...arrogance is one thing. You cannot forgive contempt, which is what he showed Sam Allardyce last weekend."

Alex, please, you make this too easy for people. It is almost as hypocritical as Jose Mourinho accusing someone of being cocky and arrogant in an interview.

You have not shown any contempt, arrogance or disrespect for Rafael Benitez at any point in his Liverpool Career have you Alex? You are safe in the knowledge that you are completely without hypocrisy in regards to showing contempt towards another manager?

You must be, otherwise you wouldn't go on record and claim "contempt is unforgivable."

Do I really have to trawl through the Internet and provide links to everyone when every time the innocent Alex has shown contempt or arogance towards the media, rival players, (his own players) rival supporters, (his own supporters) the Football Association, match officials, and most importantly of all, rival managers?

If your one of the Manchester United supporters who back your manager regardless of the glaringly obvious hypocrisy, I'm sure I would have to. Im certain you would still ignore it for the sake of petty rivalry.

I guarentee if you were at work with Alex Ferguson as your boss and he showed the same arrogance, hypocrisy, immaturity, and ignorance towards you or your work-mates; you would be first in-line to punch him on the nose.

I will resist all nose-related jokes at this point.

Hypocrite: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

Sam Allardyce is also not a manager who enjoys the media spotlight and will routinely pass up the chance to provide us with his comments about other managers and teams.

So we should consider ourselves lucky to get an insight into how Big Sam feels on an emotional level when it comes to interactions with his fellow managers: "...in terms of respect, you don't expect those sort of things to happen in a game of football. I was very, very upset by it."

Allardyce is clearly a broken-man and the emotional wreck goes on to say: "the game is hard enough as it is without a fellow manager doing what seemed to be an undermining gesture."

If we re-wind a few days and go back to the previous comments made by Sam Allardyce before the Liverpool-Blackburn game, you will hear Big Sam claim: "Bolton always used to batter them [Liverpool] at the Reebok"

Surely a manager showing respect to a fellow manager would perhaps mention that his team always "played well" instead of "battering" the opposition?

My version of "agreed standards of decency" would suggest that "battering" is showing signs of "arrogance" and "contempt."

The heartbroken Allardyce also said "...you can't help him whingeing and moaning, can you? He loves it."

Come on Sam, it's a little disrespectful to claim someone whinges and moans. Especially when that's all you seem to do when you talk to the reporters. The papers are currently filled with your whinging and moaning. Just like they have been for most of your career.

The offended Blackburn manager goes on to say "...if I can beat Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United home or away, then I am a major tactician and a very good manager."

No Sam, that's not arrogant at all, is it?

I have been through several Liverpool-Blackburn match reports and have not found a single mention of this "incident" from any reporter and more importantly anywhere in Big Sam's three minute interview following the game.

Surely someone who has been so incensed by Rafa's actions that he waited in his office after the match to get "clarification" on the incident, would mention it at some point during his post-match interview. Or at some point during that day. Or maybe the next day. After all, Big Sam was "very, very upset."

Perhaps the reason is because Big Sam is such a media-shy manager who doesn't normally voice his "concerns" and this meant he instead chose to pass-up the opportunity to discuss the incident with the post-match reporter and possibly get some idea of what the reporter thought Rafa's gesture might have meant.

Allardyce apparently went in to Rafa's office after the game: "I then waited to have a word with him after the game in his room, but as usual and unfortunately, he didn't turn up."

As usual? How many times have you been in to Rafa's office for a word Big Sam? After your "contempt" in many previous comments about Rafa, I was surprised you even managed to be allowed in to Rafa's office.

Even though the Blackburn manager failed to get "clarification" from Rafa Benitez on the hand-gesture, he took it upon himself to interpret what it actually meant and decided to concur with his close pal Ferguson before informing the media (several days later) of his "humiliation" over the hand-gesture. Despite not knowing what the actual meaning of the hand-gesture was.

"What I expect is a little more respect from a fellow manager." —Sam Allardyce

Never Forgotten: The 96 Supporters Are Not Just a Number

Jamie Ward — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:20:51 -0400

Joined Together Forever It Would Seem

United As One In Support Of Their Team

Stolen Away From The Ones Who Still Love Them

Twenty Years On We Will Never Forget Them

Inisde Our Hearts Their Memory Lives On

Calling For Justice Against Those Who Done Wrong

Every Supporter Will NEVER Forget

John Alfred Anderson (62)	Thomas Howard (39)
Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)	Thomas Anthony Howard (14)
James Gary Aspinall (18)	Eric George Hughes (42)
Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16)	Alan Johnston (29)
Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)	Christine Anne Jones (27)
Simon Bell (17)	Gary Philip Jones (18)
Barry Sidney Bennett (26)	Richard Jones (25)
David John Benson (22)	Nicholas Peter Joynes (27)
David William Birtle (22)	Anthony Peter Kelly (29)
Tony Bland (22)	Michael David Kelly (38)
Paul David Brady (21)	Carl David Lewis (18)
Andrew Mark Brookes (26)	David William Mather (19)
Carl Brown (18)	Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
David Steven Brown (25)	Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
Henry Thomas Burke (47)	John McBrien (18)
Peter Andrew Burkett (24)	Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
Paul William Carlile (19)	Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)	Peter McDonnell (21)
Gary Christopher Church (19)	Alan McGlone (28)
Joseph Clark (29)	Keith McGrath (17)
Paul Clark (18)	Paul Brian Murray (14)
Gary Collins (22)	Lee Nicol (14)
Stephen Paul Copoc (20)	Stephen Francis O'Neill (17)
Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)	Jonathon Owens (18)
James Philip Delaney (19)	William Roy Pemberton (23)
Christopher Barry Devonside (18)	Carl William Rimmer (21)
Christopher Edwards (29)	David George Rimmer (38)
Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)	Graham John Roberts (24)
Thomas Steven Fox (21)	Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)	Henry Charles Rogers (17)
Barry Glover (27)	Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
Ian Thomas Glover (20)	Inger Shah (38)
Derrick George Godwin (24)	Paula Ann Smith (26)
Roy Harry Hamilton (34)	Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
Philip Hammond (14)	Philip John Steele (15)
Eric Hankin (33)	David Leonard Thomas (23)
Gary Harrison (27)	Patrik John Thompson (35)
Stephen Francis Harrison (31)	Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
Peter Andrew Harrison (15)	Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
David Hawley (39)	Peter Francis Tootle (21)
James Robert Hennessy (29)	Christopher James Traynor (26)
Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)	Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
Carl Darren Hewitt (17)	Kevin Tyrrell (15)
Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)	Colin Wafer (19)
Sarah Louise Hicks (19)	Ian David Whelan (19)
Victoria Jane Hicks (15)	Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
Gordon Rodney Horn (20)	Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
Arthur Horrocks (41)	Graham John Wright (17)

Media Myths: Andy Gray, Rafael Benitez, and Liverpool's Zonal Marking

Jamie Ward — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:06:00 -0400

Media myths is back and this time around we will be combating the accusations made by "expert" pundits and supporters about zonal marking and why we believe Rafa should not stop using it—despite the ideology that it is not working.

After a disappointing result at home to Chelsea in the Champions League, it is no surprise to see the Liverpool forum boards filled with complaints about the zonal set-piece system that Benitez has championed since he joined the club in 2004.

Last night the Liverpool players conceded two goals from two corners against a dominant Chelsea team—which has given The Reds a very difficult trip to Stamford Bridge if they hope to proceed in the competition—and unsurprisingly the papers and sports-news channels are now filled with the recycled zonal marking debate.

What is also not surprising is this subject for debate appears just a couple of times a season and is not a constant source of discussion every week. It is probably because this "problem" with zonal marking is not actually a problem and the system has ensured Liverpool have had a fantastic defensive record over the last four seasons.

This zonal marking frenzy is not a new situation as it has been common place ever since Benitez took charge of Liverpool.

His first season in charge would no doubt bring with it problems in terms of conceding goals. The Spaniard had to get a group of players to change their ethos on defending set-pieces and get them playing to his system as quickly as possible. Despite this, match commentators routinely attacked the system as players struggled to adapt in the first few weeks and this led to the team letting in 41 goals in 38 matches.

Of course this was all because of the zonal marking system Rafa was stubbornly forcing on to his players. That is what the media "experts" would have you believe anyway.

What this statistic doesn't tell us is that from those 41 goals only four came from set-pieces all season. Rafa's players had 137 corners to defend and conceded just twice, with only two goals being scored against them from free-kicks.

After spending a season working with the new system, Benitez managed to get the players performing close to the way he had envisioned with a worthy tally of just 25 goals conceded in 38 games—his lowest amount in the league to date.

This came against the initial tide of media speculation that the new zonal system was ridiculous and would never work, and if Rafa persisted with it his time at the club would be a short one. However, Rafa has gone on to record the club's lowest goals-conceded tally in the league since 1984, and his three previous seasons of 28, 27, and 25 are Liverpool's three lowest records since 1989.

Not bad for a system that experts would have you believe is riddled with flaws.

What is amazing—and greatly hypocritical—is the amount of goals that are conceded every single week of every single season from the man-to-man marking system. But how many "experts" and supporters are heatedly debating that system and it's many fallacies?

Propaganda: "is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognition's, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the person providing the information."

Famous Liverpool propagandist, Andy Gray claims in his recent article; "Much has been made of Liverpool's defensive strategy and let me say now I'm not a fan of zonal marking and never have been. I guarantee that a running jump will beat a standing jump at any level of football at any time."

I would like to challenge this claim that Andy Gray guarantees a running-jump will beat a standing jump at any time. I could be incredibly pedantic and state that a static Peter Crouch (6'7") could probably beat Aaron Lennon (5'5") running to meet a header eight times out of ten. But surely I wont have to go that far to prove that a running jump does not beat a standing jump every time.

The First Goal

Andy Gray goes on to claim: "I'm not saying it's a shocking system, but it is flawed and that makes it very difficult to blame people who are marking space."

With Andy claiming it is the system that is flawed and that the players can't be blamed, he is just creating a very subtle straw man fallacy in order to lay the blame at the door of Rafael Benitez for choosing the flawed system—when in fact it is down to the players not doing their jobs properly.

The first goal was conceded because Ivanovic lost his man-marker—that's right, man-marker—Xabi Alonso, who tracked his run inside the box but lost him due to some intelligent maneuvering from the Chelsea defender. With blocking-off and dummy runs, this is something that happens in the man-marking system pretty much every time.

Another contributing factor for the first goal was the positioning of Albert Reira who mistimed the flight of the ball and the area it would land as he took three or four steps to meet it. Despite being just a foot in front of Ivanovic when the Chelsea man headed the ball, the Spanish winger could still not manage to clear the corner as he lept from a running jump.

Not a standing jump.

But the most interesting point, and probably the most important in terms of blaming zonal marking for the goal, would be that despite Ivanovic's run in to the box; when he met the ball he was actually standing still, and the momentum of his run in to the box had absolutely no bearing on the pace of the header.

Ivanovic could have been standing in that exact position from the very beginning and the Liverpool players would still not have cleared the corner. Simply because it was the players at fault and not the zonal marking system.

Andy Gray rightly states the system is not shocking but has its flaws. So because it is not a system that guarantees 100 percent of the time no-one will score from set-pieces; does that make it a subject that is worth criticism every time a goal is actually conceded?

And it seems only when it is Liverpool who conceded that goal?

The man-to-man system is flawed and teams who utilise that type of marking system routinely let-in goals every single week on more than one occasion. Where are Andy Grays criticism's of that system? Where are his debates and statistics complaining about a system that is actually more flawed than zonal marking?

The Second Goal

If we look at the second goal Liverpool conceded "due to the zonal marking system," we can see a repeat of the first goal. The keeper does not come to claim a cross that is flighted on to his six-yard line, Steven Gerrard mistimes his reading of where the ball will land in order to clear, and Ivanovic does not meet the ball with great speed from a running position when he scores.

During the game Andy Gray—after highlighting zonal marking as being the reason for a second goal being conceded—claims that the cross clears "five" Liverpool players without them being able to clear the corner. I am sorry but four of those five players would have had to be something like 12 foot tall or bigger if they had any realistic chance of getting near that cross.

The only person with any chance to clear the ball was Steven Gerrard who was a couple of feet in front of Ivanovic. As we know, he failed. Steven Gerrard was also man-marking Ivanovic before the corner was taken but once again intelligent running from the Chelsea man—which are just as prolific in the man marking system—created space as he lost his marker.

So that is two goals that was not actually down to a system that is apparently so flawed that it should be abandoned at all costs. I am surprised "experts" have not tried to make out Chelsea's third goal was down to zonal marking as well.

Once again people are ignoring the glaringly obvious that when the system works—and the system works a great deal week in week out without any mention during its success—it is not a problem. When players fail the system and don't do their job properly, it is the players who are at fault and not the system. When players make mistakes during man-to-man marking, the system is not ridiculed or debated furiously the next day.

Andy finishes with this little gem: "They could easily go man-to-man if Rafael Benitez wanted but he chooses to go zonal."

Would that be because Rafael Benitez has spent quite some time studying under some of the best managers in the world and actually worked as a football manager for a few years, Andy?

And could it be that the system does actually work?

When a defender goes to tackle a player who has the ball, he sometimes ends up fouling that player and giving away a penalty. Should we just eradicate tackling all together because the idea of tackling has some flaws to it?

Or maybe we should just accept that sometimes in football players get it wrong and not everything is 100 percent guaranteed—apart from Andy Grays theory about a running jump beats a standing jump every time.

The first edition of Media Myths challenged the theory surrounding Rafa Benitez and his transfer policy during his time at Liverpool Football Club. Click Here to read the article and find out the truth about this Media Myth.