It was a really good weekend, considering the fact that for once I managed to not get myself into the office and spent some quality time reacquainting myself with my bed, duvet covers and two pillows. Amidst some hoo hah from my sister and her friends in the areas of Akademi Fantasia where Mas got voted out and also Astro doing a "quick" one by getting Linda reinstated into the competition, there were actually several news items relating to Liverpool that particularly caught my eye.
The first would be the, some would say, shocking revelation that Rafa had accepted an offer of a measly 3 million quid to let Spurs speak to Super Dan in view of letting him go to play for the Spurs. Now, we all know what happened to that piece of transfer activity, once all the comments being splurt out, questioning Rafa and also asking "Who is going to score for us against Manchester United then?" I admit I was indeed puzzled myself hearing this, considering the midfield area is where we seem to be in short supply of able bodies (a category which Salif Diao does NOT fall under). Why would he be selling off one of our more creative players when we are desperately short of them? (OK, the fact that Danny Murphy is being labelled as one of our more creative players just serves to show how very desperate we are in that area). Would this mean that he would be giving more chances to our youngsters like Welsh and Potter? Those are two very young players and chucking them straight to the deep end would not be one of the wisest courses of action, unless Rafa sees something in the youngsters that us mere mortals don't. Another blatantly obvious question would be to question who Rafa has in line? Does Rafa have some magic card up his sleeve? A signing that would leave us "at the edge of our seats"?
Which brings us to all the transfer speculation that has been running around the planet. Liverpool have been linked to the MOST number of midfielders this summer. Trust me. I have lost count. Xabi Alonso, Tomas Rosicky, Scott Parker, Damien Duff (why of course we would want a left sided winger when the position that's vacant is in right midfield !! :P), Simon Davies, Owen Hargreaves, Garcia what's his name (from Barcelona), heck even Tomas freaking bluenose Gravesen was linked to us a few days back. I do however admit that all this speculation and rumours i do somewhat look forward to reading everyday since some of them are pretty juicy and keep me entertained for hours during the day. Say so and so a player is linked to us, then I would spent countless hours searching the net for more information to verify this news, and also, that doesn't take into account the countless hours spent figuring out what sort of formation should be played to accomodate this new player. It seems now though, that it is pretty clear that Rafa is looking to sign Xabi Alonso, a central midfield player, who i guess will be played as a partner for Gerrard in the center of midfield, and hence demoting Hamann to a more bit part role. Either that, or he could play alongside Biscan in the center of midfield and put Gerrard on the right wing, and hence sorting out our right midfield problems. Biscan as a potential first teamer? Who would have thought? Me, a few months ago wouldn't have believed myself saying that, but after some decent pre-season games he does look like a good prospect in the center of midfield, the position where he was originally playing. But then again, as what some would say, and myself as well, it's only pre-season. Cheryou and Smicer looked like world beaters during pre-season last year, so that shows how reliable performances during pre-season are as gauges to actual form in the Premiership.
One last piece of news, would be the never ending saga of the Michael Owen contract. Oh my god. Would you please just sign the god damned thing and get on with it? Yes, I want Owen to stay, but from the way that I see it, his heart isn't really 110% into Liverpool now. Could it be that now he isn't guaranteed his customary starting eleven spot anymore? Would it mean he would now have to WORK to actually deserve his place in the starting line up? Does the idea of playing for Real Madrid actually come as an enticing proposition for him? I have said this so many times before, but to regain some amount of respect that he used to have from the supporters, well actually from me, don't know about the rest, he should actually come out and say exactly whether he wants to leave or whether he wants to stay. I will respect his decision no matter what as I have already come to the conclusion that there is just no more loyalty in the football world anymore. I came to that after learning about how Gerrard actually contemplated moving to Chelsea and had to be persuaded by friends and family (and supporters, if you believe some of the death threat rumours) to stay at Anfield where a few weeks before that he was openly admitting that he was Red true and true and the red of Liverpool was flowing through his veins, yada yada yada.. I do still have a lot of respect for him though, and i do support him as the captain of the club and I would still jump around like a monkey when he scores another screamer into the top corner against Manchester United, but those events just changed my perception of him slightly and also my perception of loyalty among footballers. I'm sure that there still are loyal footballers plying their trade out there, but they would not be the majority anymore. Back to Michael Owen. I think that whether he plays or not tonight / tomorrow morning would give us a better idea as to whether he would be moving or not since if he does play, that would leave him cup tied, and hence declining his attractiveness to most, if not all, of the clubs that are actually interested in him.
So, at the end of the day, am I still looking forward to the new season? Hell yeah I am. Who wouldn't be? Any respectable person who calls himself a football fan would be looking forward to the start of the season no matter what happens during the summer. In Liverpool's case, there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic. Rafa is one of them, since as a new coach, all the players would give their extra bit to impress him at the start of the season as everyone starts off with a clean slate. Also, I am quietly optimistic that Rafa will bring some much needed change to the tactics and make us more organized, much in the mould of his team at Valencia, and also get us playing more attractive, attacking football. Another reason would be Djibril Cisse. I have not seen him play before, so just the opportunity to see what he has to offer is just enticing enough to actually count down to this Saturday. Probably there are other reasons as well, however one other reason that I would want to add in would be Igor Biscan. Why you would ask? Well, because everyone loves an underdog, and in Igor Biscan, we have the ultimate underdog. Ridiculed for the whole of last season by everyone, including yours truly, when he was played out of position as a central defender, he has shown what he can do as a central midfielder during pre-season and from the reviews that I have been reading, it is a valid cause for optimism. Igor Biscan winning the ball in midfield, then side stepping two defenders before unleashing a thunderbolt of a shot into the top corner of the goal? Who knows? It might just happen? If not, we can still look forward to spending hours at the mamak stalls having intelectually stimulating discussions on how much of a Donkey he is anyway. Bring on the season!
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