A Letter from ‘Lil Luis

Ever the class act, Luis Garcia has addressed Reds fan with a letter sent to the Official Site.

While I made my thoughts on ‘Lil Luis known when he left, I’ll more than happy to wish him the best of luck in the future again and again. He, his attitude and his contributions will always hold a special place in my heart and be remembered fondly in these parts.

(And, Luis, I’m not the only one who won’t forget you. Just the other day, Jose Mourinho was musing on memories of your CL Semi-final goal…)

Here, in its entirety, is his letter to you:

And the Verdict Reads…

The Premier League arbitration tribunal formed to decided the immediate future of Gabriel Heinze has handed down its decision and the Argentinian will not be making a move to Liverpool.

The panel backed United’s stance that they had made it explicitly clear the defender would not be allowed to join any of their rivals.

For those of you that are fluent in legalese, the League’s statement reads like this:

The hearing concluded that nature and intention of the disputed 13 June 2007 letter, especially when taken in context of verbal discussions and Manchester United FC’s transfer policy, was unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer.

Furthermore the hearing finds the letter constitutes an ‘agreement to agree’, and did not create an obligation or binding agreement for the club to transfer the player to any particular club.

In other words the letter is evidence of an intention to negotiate, both between the parties and with potential buying clubs, and not evidence of any intention to create legal relations.

Pay the Penalty

 

(apologies to Grimey @ LOLJocks for stealing his gimmick)

While there won’t be any screams of bloody murder eminating from these parts, it doesn’t mean the bitter pill Robbie Styles forced down our throats was any easier to swallow. But, that’s football. Somedays you get the calls, somedays you don’t.

Although we’d all rather have the three points we earned, we travel to Sunderland this weekend knowing we certainly are a dangerous squad whose star is on the rise and true contenders for the crown.

In an effort to be ‘fair and balanced’ in light of my grenade-throwing last week, I’ll tell you that you can watch the travesty and other free highlights from all of this weekend’s games over at Fox Sports. This is for US viewers only. As one reader, Dan, has pointed out in the comments section, UK residents can watch them over at Virgin Media.

Granted, I’d rather have something embedded here, but such is the world we live in and I make do with what I’ve got. (for now) I’m unsure how it will work as the season goes on, but last week you could watch a few selected matches in their entirety for free. It may be worth checking out on a regular basis.

So, before we put Sunday’s match to bed (trust me, the sooner the better, for our collective sanity), let’s recap the reaction to the disappointing decision…

Weekend Warrior Wrap-up

 It’s frustrating to have a goal of such incredible class get canceled out by one of such little class. But, that’s football.

I’d almost forgotten the ferocity with which Chelsea makes my blood boil. As if the money and the recent success weren’t enough to warrant ill feelings, the utter doucheyness of their players make me want to plant my studs in their collective faces.

All in all, a point versus Chelsea isn’t a bad result. But, we all want to see us conquer them in the comforts of Anfield, and with United’s continued blushes, today’s result was an opportunity missed.

My thoughts on the match:

Let’s Pretend It’s a CL Semi-Final

Liverpool vs. Chelsea

Premier League

4 pm (11am EST) Sunday, August 19

The Lowdown: How appropriate that Chelsea should visit Anfield for this season’s home opener. After all the pre-season talk of a title run, the Reds face a second stern opponent in as many games (granted, one is a bit more talented than the other). Early season consistency, tipped to be the key to a championship fight, will have to be earned. As is no secret if you read enough press, this is the 16th meeting of these clubs in the past three seasons.

Chelsea have started off the new campaign with the full share of points from their first two games (at Reading, vs. Birmingham), but have already conceeded three goals. No doubt, the absence of talismatic defender John Terry didn’t help (as demonstrated last season), but the England captain is expected to be included in Mourinho’s squad for the weekend’s marquee showdown. Initially, it was thought Terry’s knee injury might keep him out the whole month of August, but not shockingly, he’s recovered in time to face his rivals (it would be a real shame if he rushed back too soon and broke down again on Sunday).

The Blues are nursing some other injuries as the highly unlikeable but highly effective Ricardo Carvalho will miss out and Michael Essien’s involvement is doubtful. And by ‘doubtful’, I mean he’ll probably miracously recover enough to wade back into battle on Sunday. Arjen Robben, Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko and Wayne Bridge are all still unavailable. New boy defender Alex is not expected to play but Didier Drogba should start.

Broken Toe, but No Broken Dreams

 It was confirmed today that captain Steven Gerrard has a hairline fracture of his toe (which exact toe is unclear), stemming from the attentions of Toulouse’s Pantxi Sireix. While it’s certainly not thrilling news, compared to the Rooney injury, it’s a mere boo-boo.

Captain Fantastic will play against Chelsea and then sit out after that match, therefore missing England’s ‘friendly’ versus Germany.

A very shrewd move by Rafa, who has made it clear to the England boss who’s pulling the strings here. The Goateed One had this to say: 

We have been told by our doctors that this is not a big risk but he will clearly then need to rest after the Chelsea match. He will need one or two weeks’ rest. He will train but he will not be able to join up with England. I will talk to Steve McClaren and I am sure he will understand.

Translation: The injury isn’t that bad. He can play, but only for Liverpool. We’re not going to let him aggravate it playing a useless game for England. If we played Manchester United the following Wednesday, he’d probably feature in that too. But, we don’t, so he’ll rest his toe after Chelsea. If Steve McClaren has a problem with that, tough shit.

Playing through injury and leading by example, just two of the attributes that need to be demonstrated by championship-caliber teams. Well done, Stevie.

Hot & French

Toulouse 0 – Liverpool 1: The Reds got the job done in France, keeping a cleansheet and picking up an away goal for their troubles. Ahead of the game, some of the Toulouse players thought it wise to run their mouths, to the tune of “We’re going to turn up the heat on them (Liverpool)”. It turned out the worst heat came from the sun as the temperature was around 90°.

Rafa made six changes to the starting line-up we saw at Villa, starting Hyypia, Benayoun, Mascherano, Babel, Crouch and Voronin. Not shockingly, the press has wasted no time in latching onto this rotation. Expect another season of ‘rotation’ and ‘tinker’ talk.

Voronin got his first official goal for the club, netting from outside the box in the 43rd minute. Sadly, I was only able to watch the closing minutes so I can’t speak on the match with great authority. Oh, You Beauty… has it covered.

You can watch Voronin’s strike here.

One thing did strike me… As we were in France and couldn’t have an alcohol advertisement on our shirt, we played in unmarked red kits. While I like that look with the last Reebok shirt, the adidas jerseys looked empty and unbalanced without them. Funny how the Carlsberg logo has become such a staple of the kit.

Carra, not one to get carried away, had this to say about the match:

This is OUR Game

While I’ve already voiced my feeling on the recent crackdown on Premier League highlights, the more I’ve thought about it and considered the contrasting (and intelligent) points of views offered, the angrier I’ve actually gotten about the whole thing.

I’ve exbounded on my ruminations in comments both here and over at David J. Warner’s blog at AOL Fanhouse, but want to bring them together in one post and cogitate on the matter some more. I think what bothers me the most about the Premier League tight-fisted video stance is that its merely symptomatic of the ceaseless mistreatment of Fans.

The European Odyssey Begins Anew

A quick preview of Wednesday’s CL qualifier before the Reds descent on the City of (shrinking?) Violets…

Liverpool at Toulouse

Champions League 3rd Round Qualifying

3:30 pm (10:30am EST) Wednesday, August 15

The Lowdown: Liverpool kick-off another Champions League campaign in France, hopeful that this season may be as successful as the last, if not by a few goals more. Wednesday’s match represents Toulouse’s maiden voyage into the European Cup/Champion’s League (here’s hoping it’s a short one), as they’ve only competed in Europe twice, both adventures in the UEFA Cup.

As we all know, Liverpool officially started their season with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Saturday. Toulouse have two Ligue 1 matches under their belt; an opening day defeat to Valenciennes (3-1) and a last minute victory over Lyon (1-0). Midfielder Nicolas Dieuze had the lone goal in their loss. Striker Johan Elmander, the club’s leading league scorer last season with 11 goals, scored the game winner against Lyon after the visiting French champions had Kim Kallstrom sent off in the 35th minute.

Pick your position on the Lyon win: impressive that they beat the league champions or not-so-impressive that last term’s third-placed team beat the champs within the comforts of their own home and it took them 65 minutes to find a goal with a man advantage. You decide.

Toulouse manager Elie Baup on the match-up:

Want to Work for Liverpool?

Is it your dream to work for LFC?

Fancy a chance to coach ‘em up, pass your knowledge on, and help the Reds on to greatness? (outside of the ‘Football Manager’ world?)

This is your opportunity.