Puskas

Top 10: Pele Maradona Puskas Di Stefano Cruyff Beckenbauer Eusebio Baresi Yashin Matthaeus Not far off: Maldini, Best, Garrincha, Socrates, Banks, Moore, Kocsis, Charlton, Matthews, Zico, Kempes, Platini, Zidane, Mueller, Rossi, van Basten, Ronaldo (Brazilian one), Fontaine, Rivelino

Ok, I'll have a go now. I need the practice anyway! The MTK football club has agreed the transfer of Krisztián Németh and András Simon to Liverpool FC. According to the terms of the agreement the English club has purchased the ?permissions? (contracts) of both players, and both Krisztián Németh and András Simon signed (in spirit?) for the five time Champions League winners (and finalists again this year) late on Friday evening . Careers Management Group - the agents for both players - reports that both players have signed a five year contract with Englands most prestigious club. Krisztián Németh and András Simon went to Liverpool for their medical check-ups on Friday at the request of the Liverpool Manager Rafael Benitez, and at the Melwood team headquarters in the presence of the Spanish coach they signed their contracts according to which by the end of June both will start their training in Liverpool. The 18 year old Krisztián Németh and 17 year old András Simon have both been offered a professional contact by Liverpool - these are not the contracts normally offered to players this young, rather they are of the same level normally offered by Rafael Benitez to players in the reserve team. The discussions of the two players? future movements were conducted in complete secret over the last six months, in the course of which Liverpool staff viewed both the training and matches (of both players) on a number of occasions, including visiting the Károly Sándor Academy. The exceptional training conditions of the Academy (by the Agard river), completed by the MTK training, were especially acknowledged by Benitez?s staff, who think that the players will be able to adapt without any particular difficulties to the English playing conditions. The players are expected to return home to Hungary by Sunday, so there there will be no problems for Krisztián Németh to play in the last round of the (Hungarian) Championship against Újpest. The Careers Management Group, who will remain the player?s agent, have said that the two young footballers have not had any trials at all, which is almost unheard of for two such young players joining such a prestigious club. The unusual manner of the agreement was helped by that fact that MTK - at Liverpool's request - allowed the two to travel to Liverpool before the end of the Hungarian season. The day after the Champions League Final Liverpool asked if the players could attend their medical check-ups on the following Friday as this was the last working day before the holiday breaks of Rafael Benitez and his medical staff. Once Krisztián Németh and András Simon return home on Sunday we will update the home page with an account of their experiences. On behalf of everyone involved with the club, the management and the supporters we congratulate the two lads and wish them all the best with their future carrers. Krisztián! András! We hope one day you?ll both return!

Don't have time to translate all that, sorry! Basically they've signed 5 year contracts each. Most of the rest is the usual flummery.

Drágakők I've heard of Simon, he's supposed to be a bit of a prospect. I've not heard anything about the other lad.

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I saw that yesterday. The pillock who wrote it had Alves playing at left back. I see it's now been corrected. I wouldn't read too much into anything based on this guys level of 'knowledge'.

Unfortunately when Alonso doesn't play we struggle to keep hold of the ball. He's vital to our passing game. If we do start playing 4231 then I think Alonso would be perfect for the 2 alongside Mascherano. That's also apparently what Benitez was saying to Mascherano when he was convincing him to come - that he'd be playing alongside Alonso.

The 'second half' music was the same used by Djibrilliant in his fantastic 2005 Final preview. Which I've watched 4 times in the past two days!

This is getting very old now. I clearly remember us playing some excellent stuff away to Barca, where a 1:5 scoreline wouldn't have been out of place. Put it this way we were very good value for a 1:2 win. We also played extremely well for a 0:3 result against PSV. Yet against Chelsea we need to play two grinding 1:0s and need penalties to go through. This is our fault apparently, because we don't play interesting enough football. Let's not mention the salient qualities of our opposition. This hack doesn't appear to realise that playing Gerrard in the middle is a more attacking move than playing Alonso, as Gerrard offers much more going forward and is defensively less disciplined. I do love the fact that playing Gerrard on the right is bemoaned high and wide - and almost universally - by every 'football correspondent' in the UK yet as soon as he's played in the middle it shows a 'lack of creativity'. Oops, posted this at the same time. I agree with Mcbain! Kewell and Garcia - our two most creative players (apart from Gerrard) - have spent most of this season injured.

Assuming Maldini is fit: Dida Oddo Nesta Maldini Jankulovski Gattuso Pirlo Ambrosini Kaka Seedorf Inzaghi/Gilardino

I'm pretty certain we will play either a 4231, a 442 or a 352. That's about all I can say at this point. Having said that, we played the second half of our last match against Milan with a 361! Personally I wouldn't play Kewell, although I wouldn't be surprised if Benitez does. I guess it also depends on Zenden's fitness. I think Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard have to play, along with the regular back 5. Other than that there are so many questions - and possibilities! Do we play Sissoko in order to help to dominate midfield? Or do we bring him on later to help protect a lead? Do we go for one up front (presumably Crouch)? Or do we play two (Kuyt and Bellamy or Kuyt and Crouch) and try to run them ragged at the back? Do we play the wingers from the start or save them for later? Given that Milan only play 1 up and don't really have wingers I'd not be surprised by a three at the back. So (maybe!): Reina Carra Hyppia Agger Finnan Mascherano Alonso Riise Gerrard Kuyt Crouch This allows Gerrard to roam and Kuyt to drop back and run between the lines or help out in midfield. We have Hyppia's aerial presence for defending and attacking set pieces. Agger is also free to step up into midfield. And the wing backs have a target man to aim at. The Italian centre backs don't play against the likes of Crouch very often. There's a lot of tactical flexibility in this line-up as well - we can always pull Hyppia off, introduce a winger and switch to a 442 if we need to.

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I think it's a genius move by Newcastle. I can just see it now - Newcastle to win the domestic treble after Big Sam thoroughly outwits Mourinho, Ferguson, Benitez and Wenger with his astute grasp of tactics and prescient signings. Big Sam is pronounced manager of the season, and has the England job reluctantly thrust upon him. Or maybe not.

At the moment I'm more worried about what state I'll be in for a job interview on Thursday morning at 9am.

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