Alonso

And you've gotta give him the benefit over the Morientes buy, just didn't work out for him in the PL and as for Nunez it was either £8m for Owen or £8m and Nunez.

Said exactly the same thing to my mate last night! It's annoying that as people mentioned Given etc get all the plaudits yet so does Cech even tho he has very little to do just like Reina, so why doesn't he get the plaudits he deserves?

Alonso Kuyt Crouch

Don't forget we signed Boro fans best player not so long ago......

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Possibilities! He will give us lots of possibilities not only in personnel but also formations. We could actually see Alonso and Mascherano together, just depending on the formation/tactics Rafa wants to use.

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Yet more Dutch influence at the club then..........!!

The point I raised earlier after Kev had said UEFA are stalling.

You're probably right, wasn't it Platini who recommended Diao to Houllier stating he was gonna be the next Vieira?

Here ya go.....! Better late than never! RAFA PLEASED WITH STRIKER SIGNING Paul Eaton 26 January 2007 Rafael Benitez is confident new striker Jordy Brouwer can enjoy a successful career at Anfield as he revealed work is still ongoing to improve the squad before the transfer window closes. The Reds signed the Dutch youngster from Ajax earlier in the week as Benitez continued his policy of recruiting potential stars of the future. 18-year old Brouwer was given the opportunity to extend his stay in Holland, but instead opted for a new career on Merseyside. "Jordy is a very good finisher," said Benitez. "He?s a young boy who will need time but he is a player for the future. He can score a lot of goals. "We're always working to see if we can improve the squad. It's important that we work until the end." Liverpool, meanwhile, are still waiting to hear whether their appeal to FIFA to allow West Ham's Javier Mascherano to sign for the Reds will be successful. "He is a player we want but we are waiting for the answer," added Benitez. "It's clear a professional must play - he cannot stay without playing any games. He can bring more balance to our team. I have confidence but we have to wait." One deal Benitez has overseen this week saw Stephen Warnock bring his Liverpool career to an end by signing for Blackburn Rovers. "We want to say thank you to Stephen because he is a good professional but clearly he needed to play games. We wish him well with his new club," he added.

Wonder if that was to wait for Platini to be installed as new President?

Jonathan according to Wikipedia

......as a player.

That's a shame, he'd have been a good addition to the squad, but at least we have Momo back soon. I wonder why UEFA have to be involved when it's a FIFA ruling? We'll probably have some stiff comptetion for his signature in the summer then unless we agree some sort of pre-contract thingy!

Does that mean the Mascherano appeal has failed then?

No he's not: David Moyes claims he has cleared Andrew Johnson's name against accusations of diving by launching a video campaign. The Everton boss, who has regularly had to fend off criticism of Johnson this season, feels his striker has been unfairly singled out. Everton have compiled a video showing ten clips of debatable incidents that have not gone their way this season and have sent the video off to be reviewed by footballing authorities. They have been informed that eight of the ten incidents should have been penalties, and Moyes believes this proves Johnson's innocence. "We set out to clear Andy's name and I believe we have done that," he said. "The last thing I want to do is moan and complain about decisions that have gone against us but we have got to a stage here when it is more than just moaning. "We have a Christmas video of many incidents that have not gone our way and we have included in that the Reading goal last weekend which was clearly offside. "We have also had, in the game against Blackburn, an incident when the ball is punched off Lee Carsley's head and we did not get the penalty. "Now we have done something about it. We have had the correct people in here to see it and I have got to say that of 10 incidents shown of possible penalties, we were told by the correct people that eight of those are definite penalties and the other two were very close. "Why is it always Andy? Maybe people talk too much, people on radio stations and other managers, people have too much to say sometimes."

Darren Potter (CM) has gone to Wolves permanently. Adam Hammill (AM/Winger) has gone on loan to Dunfermline til the end of the season. Danny O'Donnell (CB) is on loan to Crewe til March.

So no you tube footage then?

Van de Saar Neville Vidic Agger Evra Ronaldo Essien Scholes Giggs Drogba Kuyt Subs: Carson Campbell Taylor Gilberto Gerrard Van Persie McCarthy

Looks like Xabi and Luis (along with Reina) will be getting new deals soonish Spaniards set for new contract talks, Jan 24 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post LIVERPOOL are ready to sit down and discuss new contracts with Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia. Rafael Benitez is keen to extend the Anfield careers of the Spanish duo, who have proven a huge success in England since arriving before deadline day in August 2004. Alonso, signed for £10.6million from Real Sociedad, is under contract until the summer of 2009, while Garcia, a £6m capture from Barcelona, is poised to become a free agent at the end of next season. Alonso has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid while Garcia is attracting the interest of former club Atletico Madrid, despite being ruled out for the rest of the season with cruciate ligament damage. Liverpool, though, want to keep hold of both players and negotiations could even begin later this week, with Benitez having already indicated his desire to reach a new agreement with goalkeeper Pepe Reina to head off interest from Valencia. Liverpool have also made the move in light of new rules over contracts that are due to come into force in August. Referred to as the ?protected period?, if a player?s contract was signed prior to reaching the age of 28 then, provided he has completed three entire seasons or three entire years, he is permitted to buy out the remainder of his contract with just 15 days? notice. However, if the contract was signed after he reaches 28, only two seasons or years must be served. In effect, the buy-out value will become the player?s transfer value as interested clubs would no doubt pay the fee rather than the player himself. Both Alonso and Garcia fall out of their ?protected period? at the end of the season and could conceivably then buy out their present contracts.

Agree there. I'd also like to see him take on the full back more often and really try to committ people. That'll come with the more confidence he gets tho and for me he is showing promise. He certainly has the ability.

I suggetsed we got Richards and do agree that the money being mentioned for him is way over the odds and he has recently said he wants to stay at City but I did say in a Football Manager world I'd sign him!! I also said he could be the long term replacement for Finnan as well as providing cover there in the short term and may even push Finnan for a starting place, nothing about him being 3rd choice.

Not sure Riise will go. Yes he's been off form this season but have we seen anything from Aurelio to prove he can be better than Riise at LB, not to mention Aurelio has his injury problems and may struggle to play the 50-60 games a season Riise has managed over the past few years. Strangely enough they both have the same birthday 24 Sept with Aurelio a year older.