It's a joy to watch players evolve in the Premier League and become world-class footballers. A few examples include Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Theo Walcott. But for every starlet, there are also shining stars who seem to get worse each week and fail to live up to the promises they showed earlier on in [. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez has admitted the form of his four centre backs has given him a selection headache ahead of this weekend's derby at Goodison.

Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel have been the first choice pairing at the heart of the Reds defence in the Premier League this season, but Daniel Agger and Sami Hyypia both staked their claims for a place in the starting eleven with impressive displays against Crewe in midweek. Click to continue reading...

Even though news trickled out four days ago, for some reason, Hyypia's omission from the Champions League group stages has hit the national media today. It's even prompted a statement from Benitez on the official site. I hadn't planned on addressing it, and it still feels somewhat Captain Obvious to go over it now, but seeing all the articles pop up in my Google Reader isn't doing my blood pressure much good. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia has today admitted he will consider his future after been left out Rafa Benitez' plans for the Champions League. The Finland international has been omitted from the club's 25-man panel for the Champions League group stages, weeks after the club rejected an offer from Stoke City for the player. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia has admitted he faces an uncertain future at Anfield after being left out of the club's 25-man Champions League squad. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard fired a stunning stoppage-time winner to floor Middlesbrough after they threatened an Anfield shock.

England head coach Fabio Capello suggested in midweek that Gerrard is not fully fit, but he was still going strong late in the game against Boro as Liverpool came from behind to claim three points. Click to continue reading...

If Liverpool fans have dreams of winning the Premier League this season, they can kiss them goodbye. Today at Anfield, Liverpool escaped with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough with a woeful performance that was rescued by an own goal and then an injury time goal by Steven Gerrard. This was a cruel blow to Middlesbrough who [. Click to continue reading...

If Liverpool fans have dreams of winning the Premier League this season, they can kiss them goodbye. Today at Anfield, Liverpool escaped with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough with a woeful performance that was rescued by an own goal and then an injury time goal by Steven Gerrard. This was a cruel blow to Middlesbrough who [. Click to continue reading...

Ah, yes... a win and a goal from Torres. What could be better? For starters, the entire first half could have been better. In fact, let's pretend that the first half didn't happen at all because some other team wearing our kits showed up and attempted to play football.

Sami Hyypia's first couple of touches made it look like Sunderland had twelve men on the field.

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The most impressive side I watched, by far, on Saturday was Middlesbrough. The link-up play between Tuncay, Alves, Downing, Aliadiere and, later, Mido was sensational. Wheater was also impressive. At times, it was like watching Brazil with all of the backheels and blistering attacks. Seriously. While Spurs controlled a lot of the possession in this match [. Click to continue reading...

The most impressive side I watched, by far, on Saturday was Middlesbrough. The link-up play between Tuncay, Alves, Downing, Aliadiere and, later, Mido was sensational. Wheater was also impressive. At times, it was like watching Brazil with all of the backheels and blistering attacks. Seriously. While Spurs controlled a lot of the possession in this match [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool veteran Sami Hyypia is desperate for league success as he nears the end of his illustrious career.

Many would consider it one of the greatest crimes in English football if Hyypia were to end his career without a Premier League medal.

The Finnish defender has been an instrumental figure ever since arriving at Anfield in 1999. Click to continue reading...

Daniel Agger has vowed to fight for his first-team place after returning from his injury nightmare against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

The Denmark international, who played for 75 minutes of the 1-0 victory at Prenton Park, has missed almost 10 months of football with metatarsal problems, with his previous appearance for Liverpool coming against Portsmouth last September. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool missed Daniel Agger during his injury problem, according to boss Rafa Benitez, who feels had the defender been fit the Reds would have had a chance of mounting the Premier League title challenge.

The Danish aided the side to have a brilliant start to last season's campaign which saw them concede just two goals in their first seven matches. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool legend Sami Hyypia is (hopefully) set to sign a new contract at Anfield, and when he does, it will be a hugely satisfying moment in an otherwise torrid season.

On the subject of Sami's possible new contract, Rafa Benitez commented: "Rick Parry is due to talk to Sami's agent this weekend and hopefullly everything will then be finished. Click to continue reading...

Will he or won't he? That's the topic of this news report which suggests that he will. It is reported that Liverpool striker Peter Crouch will ultimately be coaxed to remain at Anfield. Moreover, it seems that Liverpool's veteran defender Sami Hyypia too has been given a one-year contract extension. The Sun quotes the Liverpool manager [. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres has handed Liverpool an injury boost by returning to training.

The club's top scorer missed last weekend's draw at Chelsea after suffering a hamstring injury while on international duty with Spain.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez has declared Torres fit to face Internazionale in the Uefa Champions League next week and he is considering using him in this weekend's FA Cup tie with Barnsley.

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Liverpool's wretched season reached its nadir against Havant and Waterlooville last weekend, with the non-league minnows embarrassing Anfield's lumbering primadonnas and once again exposing the obvious truth: Liverpool are as far away from winning the premiership as they've ever been, and the club's deadwood is dragging the team into oblivion. Click to continue reading...

After the formational faux pas against Reading, Rafael Benitez reverted back to the 4-4-2 system clearly preferred by the the team, and as a result, Liverpool smashed four goals past Marseille to secure Champions League progress and make it 26 goals scored in the last 8 games.

Benitez dumped Liverpool's top Champions league goal-scorer Peter Crouch on the bench yet again in another brazen indicator that Crouchy's time at Anfield is drawing to a close. Click to continue reading...

In the past month we've played five matches, two Champions League ties and three League battles, and save our lack of luck at Blackburn, have put on impressive performances throughout. From our 8-0 thrashing of BeÅŸiktaÅŸ to the late-game heroics against Fulham and Porto, it finally appears that our side is coming around and slowly working our way to full potential. Click to continue reading...

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. With the conclusion of today's matches, a large majority of our players who would normally be representing their countries in next year's Euro Championship, will now be getting the summer off. Like I've said prior, I don't give a rat's ass about international play, especially exhibition tournaments like the Euro and the World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Even though we didn't play this past weekend, we had a ton of players who saw action for country or on-loan club. First off, as I mentioned in my daily, Harry Kewell played the full match for Australia in their Wembley friendly with Nigeria. He appears to have come away unscathed, but I'll believe it when he suits up for us again. By the way, the Aussies won 1-0. Click to continue reading...

With all the time he's got on his hands these days, Jamie Carragher has decided to give somewhat of a state-of-the-club address with particular praise for his centre back partner and Pepe Reina. Carra makes a good point that taking eight points from a run of Goodison, Arsenal, Ewood, and Fulham at Anfield is a decent string of results. He then goes on to point out how Hyypiä has raised his level of play recently, something that hasn't gone unnoticed, but also adds that it seems when the Finn plays well, the whole team appears to follow suit. Click to continue reading...

There isn't really much going on in the world of Liverpool Football Club, just reiterations of yesterday's headlines, so I've decided to just ramble on about a bunch of nonsense. Feel free to share your opinions below.

Before I go down that long and winding (or winded, which ever you prefer) road, there's an excellent piece on Rafa's obsession with our club and football in general by Oliver Kay at the Independent. Click to continue reading...

- Sami Hyypia has been the latest star player at the club to vocally back his boss' rotation policy. The 33-year-old Finnish International has deemed Rafa's tinkering critics 'silly'. I've actually been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of Benitez' ways and will write a post with my conclusion later today. Meanwhile there are talks of Hyypia getting either a contract extension now or a new contract offer at the end of the season when his current one runs out. Click to continue reading...

Well, our biggest fears have come to fruition with the loss of Danny Agger for up to five weeks with a broken hand. I guess it could have been worse, it could have been an injury to one of his feet or legs. A thorough evaluation will be done tomorrow and an assessment will be made, but our already thin backline just got a little bit thinner, at least for the Portsmouth tie. Click to continue reading...

Portugal vs Poland, Saturday, 1600 est
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Lisbon

Cristiano Ronaldo and Euzebiusz "Ebi" Smolarek don't have a lot in common. True, they are both attacking midfielders named after famous people, Ronaldo after Ronald Reagan and ironically Smolarek after Portuguese great, Eusébio. They also both like to party, though Cristiano prefers hookers and Ebi is a pot man, but what do expect from young, rich footballers? Click to continue reading...