Skrtel Strained His Hamstring?

The season hasn’t even begun and Mr. Terrorist-face-Martin just called me to apologize to me for straining his hamstring. 

“You know that’s a bad sign for the remaining of the season?”  I said.

He was quiet.  Partly because his English is still crap and when he cries, he forgot all the English words that he’s learned since joining the Club.

In order to challenge for the title, we need everyone fit!  And when I said ‘Everyone’, that’s including Nabil (El Zhar)!  Apparently Nabil sprained him medial ligament in his right knee.  Fortunately, I don’t see Nabil playing until the next League Cup game.  This means that he will have plenty of time to heal.

Meanwhile, back to Martin… I’m going to have a talk with Rafa to see his plan with Martin’s injury.  No No No… I know Agger is there to cover.  But what if Agger hurts himself too?  I know someone who is very suited to backup Skrtel and Agger… John Terry anyone?

Not Guilty!

What do you want me to say?  My legal team rocks!? Did you really think that the jury is really going to convict me?  Come on, this is the Liverpool Crown Court, not the Chelsea Supreme Court!  Hello?  Hello?  Have you heard of the term:  "Home Court Advantage?" 

 

Oh, and on that scale of 1-10, I wasn't at level 7 in terms of drunkenness.  My lawyer told me to say '7' because this is a special number for the team.  I wanted to say '8', but my lawyer said that's too much.

I don't want to hear anymore complains from the Americans that Football is boring!

I just watched the Game 5 of the NBA finals between L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic, and let me tell you, it is a very boning game! Compare this Game 5 to the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, and I can tell you immediately that which game I'd rather be watching!

I'm not saying that Basketball is a boring sport to watch. In fact, I've seen some very exciting Basketball game in the past. But when it comes to a game between a strong team and a weak team, I know damn well which sports will provide me with a greater entertainment!

It's even better when it is your fierce rival that is gelling trashed. Good job, Barca!

And Congratulations to Kobe Bryant. I know you are one of the very few Americans who really understand football. Although you seem to be more of a Barca fan, than a Liverpool fan.

Stoke City vs.. Liverpool Post Match Review

I knew I had a poor game!  I don’t know but during the first half, I just couldn’t stop worrying about the Court appearance that I have to make later this month.  I just disappeared from the field. 

It was not until late in the second half that I realized this season is not the same as the seasons.  We are actually leading the table this time in January.  I tried to pick-up myself from the mental crash, but it was tough.  Rafa later sent in Torres to help me out.  He did!  But the post didn’t!  I hit it twice today! 

It’s a miserable day for me, and probably for the team too.  There is a possibility that we have just lost the Premiership Title, TODAY! 

Now when I watch Chelsea hosting Man U tomorrow, I have to hope for a draw.  Either side win will be a disadvantage to us.

Reina – 5 – I’m sorry, I know you got a clean sheet, but that stupid pass that you made almost game me a heart-attack.

Hyypia – 7 – I think he did okay today. 

Skrtel – 7 – Welcome back!  And yes, you also did well.  Your partnership with Hyypia seemed to work well today.

Aurelio – 6 – A very quiet day.

Carragher – 6 – I don’t like seeing Carra playing as Right Back.  His crossing sucks, and he lacks pace.  And looking at how often Stoke came down their Left side, I don’t think I’m the only one who sees Carra that way.

Mascherano – 5 – I had a quick chat with Maradona after the game today, and I told him not to judge Mascherano based on his performance today.

Lucas – 4 – His passing was miserable today! 

Kuyt – 5 – We know his finishing sucks.  By the time Rafa moved him to Right Wing, I think he only had less than half a tank of gas left.

Myself – 6 – I didn’t show up in the First Half.  I only started playing after Torres was brought on.

Riera – 5 – He did a few good runs from the Left early-on.   But he disappeared in the Second Half, and subsequently being substituted. 

Benayoun – 5 – Always one dribble too many.  He was given quite some time on the ball and he failed to deliver.

Torres – 6 – Got about 30 minutes of play and that Header-pass to Gerrard was magnificent! (Almost gave him a ‘7’)

Babel – 6 – With only 10 minutes or so of playing time, I shouldn’t even be rating him.  But I do think that his Dribbling and Pace are both better than Benayoun.  He was/would-have-been my pick to start the match on the right.

In conclusion, WE MISSED ALONSO!  I don’t know how Rafa could entertain the thought of selling Alonso early this season.  His range of passing was clearly missed today!  And if we do end-up losing the Title, today’s match, in my opinion, is the final nail to the coffin. 

Rafa Overdosed on Pain Killer!?

My mobile phone kept ringing off the hook this morning as if I was arrested again.  Fortunately, I forgot to switch off the silent mode after watching a movie last night.  So I missed all those calls and got to sleep in for a bit.

But when I woke up, there were  24 Missed Calls, and 38 SMSes in my Inbox.  By the time I glanced through the first 5 messages and there were only 1 common things… Rafa!  “What the hell is going on?” 

I booted up my PC and the first item from my RSS Reader reads something like “Rafa Go Hostile on Sir Alex!”

I immediately log into my Liverpool email account and downloaded the transcript of Rafa’s interview. 

“If Mr. Ferguson wants to talk about the fixtures, and we want to be on a level playing field here, there are two options: one is where is the same as in Spain. The first part of the league, all the teams know at this time they will play against this team on this weekend, or that weekend, and the second half of the league will be the opposite - you will play away… Or maybe the other option would be Mr. Ferguson organizing the fixtures and everything in his office and sending them to us - then everybody will know and nobody can complain.”

Holy crap!  I was laughing my ass off!  Way to go, Boss!  It’s about time someone shut this Old Fart up, and tell him that we are not afraid of him! 

But honestly, I do know that Rafa is still under heavy medication from his Kidney Stone removal operations, and his mind wasn’t clear.  He must thought that he was talking to Sammy Lee in the Boot Room.  That’s cool with me.

By the way, I also came across this later today.  I need to ring up King Kevin to confirm this.

Rafa: My Stoke City vs. Liverpool Team Sheet

			Reina
Carragher		Hyypia		Agger		Aurelio
		Mascherano		Lucas
Babel			Myself			Riera
			Kuyt

• Not much changes in the back.  It turned out that putting Carragher in the Full-Back position has been working out, so I’ll just stick with it.
• Insua is not available so I put Aurelio on the other side of the defense.  I’ll let him take a few free kicks if/when I choose to.
• Alonso is injured so Lucas will take his spot
• I chose to put Babel on the right because, 1)  Riera has been doing well on the left, and 2) Babel can play the Striker position while (the alternate) Benayoun cannot.  I would like some options here.
• Kuyt over Torres even though Torres is available.  I’ll put Torres on some time in the second half.  I just don’t want him to get injured by doing a full-game so soon, and Away.

My prediction:  Stoke City 0-4 Liverpool

FA Cup 4th Round Draw

My pal Rooney just called to tell me that we are playing Everton in the 4th Round of the FA Cup.  He asked me to make sure that 1) I will get to play, 2) Torres will play, and 3) To score a few more goals for him.

This is going to be one nasty tie!  Yellow and Red Cards are going to flying in from every angle, especially if Phil Neville is playing. 

Let me put some more thoughts into this game since it doesn’t get played until later this month (January 24/25).