THE ENGLAND TEAM THAT DIDN'T GET TO EURO 2008

I can't help it but to notice the weird pattern. After reading the news and compare a few things in particular the injuries to the first choice players of England squad. Rooney over in Old Trafford won't be playing in their first official competitive game due to some viruses. The same goes to Gerrard... and to think of it, did the long holidays during the summer could be the main cause of their crock when the new season is less than 6 days away? hihihi....

p/s I have use all my prize money (viva Spain!) in acquiring 1 jacket, 1 beg, 3 shirts, a mug and some small items and sponsor a friend to be a member of LSCM. Euro 2008... will be best remembered as the best football tournament I ever bet on up to now. I wonder my luck could be different if England were in. I would have put my money on them and may not win anything instead, just like the failure of World Cup in the hands of Ronaldinho....

I've told you so... watch out for DAVID NGOG

*
Yes. He was brought in about 30 minutes left to full time in the 2nd half. Actually, his movement in the last night's game was not so impressive as he has shown in the Rangers game. But still he managed to score.

Notice the similarity with this photo of David Ngog and another one on the next posting below? He scored with his definitive left foot. And the two goals are almost identical, isn't it?

The game started with the most likely first 11 to start in the UCL Qualification game on August 12th. Torres & Keane at the front, Gerrard & Alonso in the middle, flanked by Kuyt on the right and Benayoun on the left. Then there's the new back in Dossena on the right, Arbeloa on the left and Carra assisted by Agger as the anchor but Reina was only brought in in the 2nd half. (The consolidation goal conceded was during his 2nd half.... hahaha)

Just after 25 minutes, Gerrard signaled to the bench those rolling-rolling hands, requesting to be taken out. A few minutes before he was seen strecthed to the limits to clear the ball from the back. I suspect he had a few knocks. The best part is that Valerenga looks as if they're trying their best to score or to inflict something onto LFC. On the other hand, LFC played their own tempo and looked relax. That's good. Everybody know that the new season is just less than a week to go. And for LFC there is another Lazio friendly game they have to run to. Lazio won't be as easy as Rangers or Valerenga. Lazio could give LFC as hard time as Villareal did.

The result is academic. But the manner it was scored is sometime for us to cherish. Two of the goals were scored by the players infamously now been persuit or linked to a move away from Anfield : Alonso & Benayoun. Both of them scored in the last game against Rangers. Alonso should stay. Same goes to Benayoun. Forget about Barry... (though I doubt it can be canceled now)...

TONIGHT CHANNEL 811

*

LIVERPOOL vs VALERENGA (...huh...?)
Time : 12.55 am (6th August)
Channel : 811 Supersports
-----------------------------------
ok guys... don't miss tonight's game. It's just a friendly game but an opportunity for us to gauge the lethalness of our new strikers - Torres & Keane. And also... watch Ngog closely. I love this guy. He can play, he can really shoot and score. But don't ask me about the opponents. In all seriousness... I have never heard of this team... Valerenga... sounds like a spanish song... hehehehe

*

Guess what? Valarenga is not even a spanish entity! hahaha a quick search in the Internet shows this :

Vålerenga Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Oslo, founded in 1913, named after the nearby neighbourhood of Vålerenga.
They finished 7th in the 2007 Norwegian Premier League.
Vålerenga's home ground, as of October 2005, is Ullevaal Stadion, the stadium for the Norway national football team.
The previous stadium was Bislett stadion, which hosted speed skating and track and field events in addition to football, and hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics.

utusanLFC :

Valerenga will be MACARRENA-ED tonight... hihihi

Chasing pack offering their players for sale or rant

Tottenham and Aston Villa are sending mixed messages in transfer dealings.It cannot be easy being on the periphery of the elite.
Of course, it is much better than routinely teetering on the brink of relegation or, in Luton Town’s case, something far worse, but the inferiority complex that being within touching distance of the Barclays Premier League’s so-called “Big Four” seems to induce has resulted in some pretty bizarre behaviour and accusations this summer.
Neither Tottenham Hotspur nor Aston Villa want to lose their best players, certainly not to the superpowers whose coat-tails they are trying to cling to, but whether they like to admit it or not – and to judge from their reactions this summer they obviously don’t – both clubs know a good deal when they see one.



Nobody can say Tottenham got the short end of the stick when Liverpool agreed to pay an initial fee of £19 million for Robbie Keane, 28 last month, rising to £20.3 million depending on the Ireland striker’s success at Anfield, just as few would argue that Villa have done bad business should, as expected, Gareth Barry, 27, complete an £18 million move to the Merseyside club this week.



Click here for a complete version : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article4454436.ece

LFC : READY TO RUMBLLEEEEEEEE....!

*

Liverpool's fixture list for the 2008-09 Barclays Premier League campaign is as follows:

August:

16 Sunderland (a)

23 Middlesbrough (h)

30 Aston Villa (a)

.

September:

13 Manchester United (h)

20 Stoke City (h)

27 Everton (a)

.

October:

4 Manchester City (a)

18 Wigan Athletic (h)

25 Chelsea (a)

29 Portsmouth (h)

.

November:

1 Tottenham Hotspur (a)

8 West Bromwich Albion (h)

15 Bolton Wanderers (a)

22 Fulham (h)

29 West Ham United (h)

.

December:

6 Blackburn Rovers (a)

13 Hull City (h)

20 Arsenal (a)

26 Bolton Wanderers (h)

28 Newcastle United (a)

.

January:

10 Stoke City (a)

17 Everton (h)

27 Wigan Athletic (a)

31 Chelsea (h)

.

February:

7 Portsmouth (a)

21 Manchester City (h)

28 Middlesbrough (a)

.

March:

4 Sunderland (h)

14 Manchester United (a)

21 Aston Villa (h)

.

April:

4 Fulham (a)

11 Blackburn Rovers (h)

18 Arsenal (h)

25 Hull City (a)

.

May:

2 Newcastle United (h)

9 West Ham United (a)

16 West Bromwich Albion (a)

24 Tottenham Hotspur (h)

.

Rangers 0 Liverpool 4 (FRIENDLY ONLY)

*

FERNANDO TORRES got his partnership with Robbie Keane up and running at Ibrox.
Spanish hitman Torres was on target as Rafa Benitez's men enjoyed their biggest victory of pre-season.
This was the first time Benitez had paraded his £40million strikeforce of Torres and Keane
together. And he was delighted with their performances.

utusanlfc :
Man. U... Chelsea... Arsenal... be very afraid. very very afraid of Anfield Reds coming to you...

RANGER vs LFC : NGOG wowseeee...!

*
Ngog scored the second goal and this is no ordinary goal. It was full of confidence and accuracy. More like Anelka... fast, furious and highly skilled. But this fella is only 19.



Firstly, I didn't know if there's gonna be any live telecast of LFC friendly in the Malaysian satellite tv. I remember last season when I get to watch LFC vs Leverkusen. That was last year. So yesterday evening I was scrambling from one channel to another (and oh what a lousy programme ASTRO had on Sunday night - to allow people go elsewhere instead). And upon the SUPERSPORT channel my eyes were caught with this item : Rangers vs Liverpool. But there's no indication if it's a live or recorded version. Usually ASTRO would state those things. So I took a gamble. I waited for 2 hours for the game to start and meanwhile, I ran to a nearby market and got myself some fruits. The weather is so hot and fruits like orange, apples, dokong is good.

To my delight, it was a live telecast. And this is the 1st time I saw them wearing the grey jersey. On tv (with all the sunlights) from afar the jersey look like white. But in a single word, it is really a boring colour. I may be so used to the white away colour (since Reebok) and even accepted the black UCL color last season... and this year they will be wearing green. huh... I doubt if I ever entice to purchase one for my collection.

So the 1st half the game assemble what might be some clues to the 1st team (excluding Masherano and Babel who are in the Olympics now). The focus was on Keane. Our latest expensive striker. And of course Torres who didn't failed to fulfill his promises. He scored one and technically won the 1st half for the team. I'm not interested to comment on Keane though he didn't score before he was replaced in the 2nd half. As I have said, he is an accomplished and established striker. It is a matter of time before he open his goalscoring accounts with LFC. More than a few times did he show his 6th sense of passing beautifully, in particular to Torres. The understanding is good. It shows Keane's professionalism as he really comply to the instruction as a feeder for Torres. I'm sure when the premiership start, Keane will show what he did best during his lousy spell in Spurs.

One player I like to focus on now is David Ngog. This is the 1st time I watch him play since his transfer from PSG for a 1.5 mil pounds last month. And what a revelation! Mind you, I'm not easily excited with new players... just like when I saw Voronin... hehehe

The 19-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the Barclays Premier League club and will go straight into the first-team squad.
Ngog, who is the cousin of former Newcastle and current Olympique Lyonnais defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, struggled in an under-performing Paris St. Germain team last season as the French club barely maintained their Ligue 1 status.
He scored just once in 18 appearances but has been far more effective on the international stage at various levels for France.
The pacy forward has scored at every youth level for his country, including a brace against England Under-19s last season.
Ngog's arrival adds welcome reinforcement to manager Rafael Benitez's strikeforce following the departure of Peter Crouch, who was sold to Portsmouth.

How do I perceived him? I say he was like Anelka, less Torres. As you see, Torres is very much Owen-like... grab the ball and run to the goal mouth and shoot. I'm not saying its no good. It's one way of winning the game and to have a player who can terrorise opponents defence like Torres is more than we can hope for. But Ngog would give us that 2nd option. Intelligent, highly skilled and what a shot... It may be premature for me to comment based on his inaugural goal for LFC but he is really convincing and heartening. I now believed the quality we have in the team is enormous. Ngog will be a good option. I think Torres & Keane would be the 1st choice and Ngog will be the lethal secret-weapon. I suspect Ngog will need to adjust and learn fast how English game is played. The fullback has no hesitation to kick his heels. Those type of foul is a bit alien for the newcomers. Worst of all, he might just get injured.

A positive mention must also goes to Krisztian Nemeth. If I'm not mistaken, he has been the backbone of the Researve squad last season in winning the FA Cup. I'm not sure what is Rafa's plan with all his youngsters during this curtain raisers game. Apart from Ngog, is Rafa gonna put Nemeth, Damien Plessis in the starting 11? I hope at least they will be given fair chance in the FA or league tournament. They're good.

To all of you, watch David Ngog. He could be the next star player of Liverpool Football Club. Trust me.

For Malaysian viewers... watch another LFC friendly game against VåLERENGA on Supersports Channel 811 at 12.55am 6th August 2008.

*

Benayoun exit rumours rejected

The agent of Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun has played down talk linking his client with a move away from Anfield.
Reports have suggested the Reds may be prepared to sacrifice Benayoun after Rafael Benitez admitted he will have to sell before he can buy again.
Manchester City and Benayoun's former club West Ham have been linked with a move for the Israel international if Liverpool do decide to offload the player.
But Benayoun's agent Ronen Katzav says he has had no contact with any interested clubs and that the player is concentrating on the new season ahead at Liverpool.
"There has been no contact or talks with any club about Yossi," Katzav told Sky Sports.
"All summer there has been speculation about Yossi, but he has a contract with Liverpool.
"I don't believe Liverpool want to sell Yossi and he is just concentrating on life at Liverpool.
"It is nice that everybody is interested in Yossi, but from our point of view he is only thinking about Liverpool."

REDS TO FACE BELGIANS IN QUALIFIER

Paul Eaton

01 August 2008 liverpoolfc.tv

Liverpool have been paired with Belgian side Standard Liege in the third qualifying round for this season's Champions League.
The first leg is expected to be played in Belgium on 12/13 August with the return game at Anfield two weeks later. However, Liverpool would advise all supporters not to make travel arrangements until dates and venues have been confirmed. Standard Liege are aiming to qualify for the group stages of the competition for the first time in their history having ended a 25-year wait for their domestic league crown last season. The two teams last met in European competition back in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup campaign of 1965-66 when the Reds ran out 5-2 aggregate winners.

.
The draw in full is as follows:

Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos

Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel

Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb

Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid

Aalborg/Modrica v Rangers/Kaunas

Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow

Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE

Standard Liege v Liverpool

Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest

FC Twente v Arsenal

Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev

Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia

SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille

Fiorentina v Slavia Prague

Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest

Panathinaikos/Dinamo

Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague

---------------------------------------

STANDARD LIEGE IN 13 FACTS

1. Liege is a city in the east of Belgium, with a population of just over 187,000 and used to be famed for its steel-making industry.
2. The city is twinned with Lille in France, Oporto in Portugal, Aachen and Cologne in Germany, Krakow in Poland, Turin in Italy and Rotterdam in Holland.

3. Former tennis star Justine Henin, who retired at the age of 25 in May, was born in Liege.

4. Standard Liege have nine Belgian league titles to their name. Last season they won the championship by finishing seven points clear of Brussels giants Anderlecht.

5. The club possess a wealth of young talent, including star player, playmaker and captain Steven Defour, fellow Belgium international Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel and Reginal Goreux.

6. Liege won last season's league title, their first for 25 years, after embarking on a 31-game unbeaten run.

7. Former Liege players of significance include former Belgium internationals Eric Gerets, Marc Wilmots, Michel Preud'homme, former Croatia star Robert Prosinecki, the Mpenza brothers Emile and Mbo and Ronny Rosenthal, who left Liege for Liverpool.

8. The team's youth policy led them to set up the Academie Robert Louis-Dreyfus, one of the most highly-rated training academies in Europe, at the cost of 18 million euros in May 2007.

9. Star striker Dieumerci Mbokani scored 19 goals in last season's title-winning campaign. His physical play and strong aerial presence is reminiscent of Didier Drogba. Mbokani is also one of the key members of the DR Congo national team and, at the age of 22, could be a star of the future.

10. Liverpool and Standard Liege met in the 1965-66 European Cup Winners' Cup second round, with Liverpool winning 5-2 on aggregate on the way to a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the final.

11) Like Liverpool, Standard Liege are known as ‘The Reds’ because of their home strip.
12) The club was formed in 1900 by a group of the College of Saint-Servais in Liege. The prefix ‘Standard’ came about because French side Standard de Paris was popular at the time.
13) Standard Liege reached the final of the 1982 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup where they played Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Barca won 2-1

BARRY SAGA : IT'S SERIOUSLY GETTING OVERWORKED!

The author wearing the 2005 Winning Cap of ISTANBUL that cost him RM100... and note the number 8 (Gerrard's) on the military vehicle...

I woke up this morning, turn on the Internet and to my amazement (and loath to a certain extend), the saga is lingering to a point of utterly boring. Barry's thing could be now came first after the debacle in Kewell purchase 7 years ago. Different dynamic but with same result. Embarrassment to all of us. It could have been something else totally if the player we're after is such a famous, established and proven player... someone like Xabi Hernandez (we're referring to the midfield) but Barry is surely none of the above. He has just knocking on the England squad, not even a permanent, 1st choice one. And he is already 27. Making things look damned worst is all the fuss and hatred coming from Aston Villa. As far I can remember, Liverpool do all the dealings with proper and gentlemanly style. Seldom we find LFC got caught in the web of hatred and loud noise from the supposed seller. This is the norm for Chelsea and Man.U. Both have lots of money. All they need to do is splash the Pound Sterling's and the likes of money-come-1st of Ashley Cole can be persuaded with ease. And the same with Man.U trying to lure Berbatov and at the same time, ironically criticising Real Madrid for trying to acquire Ronaldo.
But do we really need all the bad publicity? I hate it when we get embroiled with this kind of stupid situation and for a wrong player. If Barry is that good, how come only 2 clubs are eyeing for him? And what makes Barry better than Alonso? Just because Alonso had a lousy season last term (when he was out injured for a long time), so now he is the main candidate to be sold? Alonso should remain as the main nucleus of the team. If Rafa ever listen to the fans like us, I suggest he just close the dealings with Villa once and for all. I will have a huge scepticism for Barry (if ever he become Reds) whenever he play and will be looking at him through out the season.

As for Keane, I have no complain. He didn't convert in his debut. So what? He has proven he really can score even in a lowly team as Spurs and actually, to think about it... he played only with Berbatov in Spurs.
Consider this : now that Keane is in a real true great teams... and with lots of quality passes and assist that he will get from the likes of Gerrard, Kuyt, Babel, Masherano and many many more... his combination with Torres will surely be a lethal weapon for LFC. Now this is what we call a good deal.

I can't comment on the other new players. I don't know any of them. Time will tell as we all have to see them playing for us week in, week out.

We're in the month August... hmmm... can't wait for the league to start. C'mon baby!

UTUSANLFC