Just one week to lift off and Anfield injuries mount
It was great to get back to Anfield and enjoy the buzz of a home game again. The visit of Atletico Madrid coupled with a warm day in L4 was the perfect way to ease our way towards the new season. I must admit to being slightly jealous of Arsenal's supporters, not only do they have their new stadium built, they can now enjoy the annual event of their pre-season tournament at the Emirates. It might be nice for Liverpool's global support to get a glimpse of the players they only usually see on TV but it's the home support that will be there for the team all season and pre-season games are a great opportunity to take youngsters along for their first experience of Anfield.
There was news this week of a potential new shirt sponsor once Carlsberg end their association with us at the end of the season, so it seems revenue-generation wheels are turning at LFC, let's hope they turn enough to supply Rafa with enough cash to compete further at the top end of the market and get some building work started on Stanley park.
We've already welcomed Glen Johnson to Anfield and we now also greet the arrival of Alberto Aquilani from Roma to replace that Spanish guy that went to Madrid. What was his name again? Alonso, that's it. Judging by some of the reactions to my last piece on here about Alonso's departure you'd have thought I'd beaten Bambi to death with Tiny Tim's crutch.
Get over it - and him, the admission by Alonso that he had asked to go months ago makes those who loudly pooh-poohed "our Xabi" ever wanting to leave look a bit silly.
We move on and I must admit I've not seen enough of Aquilani to be able to judge whether he will be a good signing or not. Clips on TV and off You Tube are just not enough and his injury record may offer some concern but in Rafa we trust. Let's be honest, who had heard of Alonso before he came here?
The visit of Atletico had packed the stadium and everyone was filled with anticipation for the game and for the new season starting next week. Sadly the Reds' performance left everyone a bit flat. We probably had most of the possession in the game but two quality goals by Atletico left the team chasing the match and obviously not wanting to exert themselves too much with Spurs coming up next week.
The injury to Carragher was also a worry. Skrtel and Agger are also carrying injuries and it would hardly inspire confidence if we have to face Spurs with a couple of youngsters at the heart of defence. We conceded the first goal while Carragher was off the pitch and Danny Ayala had allowed the dangerous Aguero to drift off him and head pass Reina easily. Diego Forlan, ex-Man United and booed throughout also slotted in an excellent curving right foot shot to Reina's left and put Atletico two-nil up. Each time the Spanish side scored, Torres had an opportunity to equalise just after but missed both. He'll get better.
It was one of those days. It would have been nice for the fans to have beaten Atletico and leave the ground happy but whilst a bit disappointing, nobody kidded themselves that this game actually meant anything other than for a bit of fitness and fine-tuning.
There is a lot of talk in the press of Liverpool's potential title challenge having faltered already with the departure of Alonso. Even Sir Alex has waded in and said he doesn't expect us to even equal our points total of last season.
We don't have to Sir Alex, we just have to achieve at least one more point than everyone else.
By the way, with the departure of your Portuguese prancing pony to Real Madrid, we don't expect United to achieve the same points total as last year either.
The "Big Four" will all have a say in where the title eventually goes and the likes of Man City and Villa will also apply pressure at the top. I expect the title race to be even tighter this year and a lot of factors will play a part, especially if the Big Four teams go a long way in the Champions League.
Squad strength will be even more of a factor this year and if anywhere, that is where Liverpool might struggle. Our best eleven is certainly a match for anyone, yet others have greater strength in depth.
That said, I think we have as good a chance of winning the Premiership as anyone else and we can also go a long way in the Champions League too.
We'll need a bit of luck along the way but we can finish the season with silverware.
Title number nineteen and Champions League final in Madrid in May please Rafa.
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hurts me to say it but chelski will walk it
With Alonso I genuinely believed the title was there for the taking but now I have real doubts. Even with the best will in the World I can't see Lucas taking us to the title but no doubt Rafa will persist with him until we are all driven insane with frustration. The cental defensive injury problems are just temporary and Spurs are in an even worse position than us with no fit centre backs just as they face up to Gerrard and Torres. Hopefully we will get a better sponsorship deal but I can't imagine anything happening at Stanley Park anytime soon. Its shocking to hear people mention the amount of money spent Real Madrid have spent in one summer (£220 million) and then be reminded that this figure is dwarfed by the amount of debt the Americans lumbered us with in one fell swoop just for the privilege of being owned by them. I understand Acquilani actually cost £15 million with a further £5 million in add ons. This means our net summer spending is approximately neutral which begs the question "What happened to the £20 million net transfer budget the Americans were supposed to have given Rafa ?"