Alonso

Depends what you mean by challenging. For me you have to be top/within a few points of top right the way til the finish and we haven't once been in a position to win the PL in the last 2 years or even put pressure on the team in first.

Reina Carson Finnan Carragher Agger Bale Richards Arbeloa Hyypia Riise Gerrard Alonso Sissoko Gonzalez Pennant Mascherano Guthrie Garcia Kuyt Villa Crouch Bellamy Back-ups/Reserves: Padelli, Insua, Paletta, Huth, Ajdarevic, McCarthy, Duran, Hammill, Leto, Zhar and Brouwer

Wonder if Reina will have any competition from Carson next season: Arsenal are tracking England Under-21 keeper Scott Carson, who is currently on loan to Charlton from Liverpool. (Various) From the BBC Gossip Column. If that is the case then we gotta be looking for around £7-8m surely.

Are there questions over his long or even short term future then?

Especially if they get C Ronaldo too.

I very much doubt we'll be signing a new left winger in the summer as we've got Leto coming over, Gonzalez, Garcia and Kewell as well as Aurelio and Riise who can play there. Admitedly some will be sold but to contemplate getting in a world class left winger would mean selling Gonzalez, Kewell and Gracia (leaving Leto as cover) as well as one of Riise/Aurelio (or maybe both if Insua is any good) to accommodate this new LB we all want.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez's first signing following George Gillett and Tom Hicks's takeover of the club will be to buy Spain international David Villa from Valencia for £20m. (Sunday Express)

From Bascombe: Meanwhile, Benitez is increasingly confident Javier Mascherano will get the go-ahead to make his Liverpool debut. Benitez believes the Premier League could make a ruling as soon as today. ?We think the news on Mascherano will be good and they will decide soon, maybe this will be on Monday,? said Benitez. ?The lawyers have been working hard on this. He was playing for West Ham and FIFA have said he can play for Liverpool, so the answer to us should be yes. He is training and now we are just waiting.?

Here's a link to his profile on the Tenerife website (in Spanish) Iriome Gonzalez

Mate of mine was playing football on the weekend and one of his team mates went to clear the ball good and proper (and being a black belt in Karate means it was a hell of a kick) but ended up kicking the studs of the attacker trying to block the clearance. Anyway the result was an open fracture of his foot and both pieces of the bone came through the boot.

Maybe worth a punt on David Nugent?

Both teams seemed to lack something up front. Portugal defended very well and hit Brazil on the counter a few times with the pace and skillof Ronaldo and Quaresma who looked their most dangerous player on the night. Great vollied goal by Simao from a Quaresma cross and a good finish from Carvalho made it 2-0 to Portugal.

Unfortunately I'm not gonna be able to watch the PC, so would be much appreciated if someone could give a run down of what they've said. Thanks in advance.

It'll also enable him to get his first choice player rather than being priced out of it. Not getting Alves last summer being a key example.

Agger Pennant Carragher

Good to see Crouch already equal last season's tally with probably less playing time and more frequent rotation.

Arbeloa at LB, Riise at LW?

If the decision needs to be made by a certain time for Mascherano to be included in tomorrrow's squad then it'll be made 1 minute after that.

Does this from Bascombe's article mean that Moores and Parry plus some of the baord stay in control? They have also promised continuity at boardroom level. DIC did the same, of course, although it has emerged under their proposals that Parry would have been the only existing board member who would have kept his position. Moores would have been a figurehead, but the other five places would have been selected from DIC.

Not that his sources are anything to go by by Graham Beacroft said that had it not been the derby he heard from various people that there would have been a protest outside Anfield this weekend.

It's on!

All I want is for the club to be self financing so that Rafa and the managers in the future can realistically get their first choice buys with none of this scrimpping and saving. Whether that means a new stadium, better marketing or both then we need to make that happen one way or another. After all what really counts is what happens on the picth. Simplistic I know but get it right on the pitch and and the rest should follow.

Dunno if he will be as it's on PPV. I think he just does the Sky Sports games.

Ballack-Makelele-Lampard-Essien