I have been hearing a lot about this young Brazilian striker called Keirrison. Apparently we are after his signature together with a host of other top European sides. Just yesterday it was said that Barcelona have already agreed a deal with the 20 year old to bring him from Palmeiras. Keirrison is also being heavily link with a move to Liverpool. So I thought I should do some research and find out who this guy really is. I came across quite a lot of footage of him on Youtube and I am impressed with what I have seen so far. He looks like a real goal scoring threat who is good on both feet. He could just be what we need to backup Torres.

His stats also look impressive. He has scored 16 league goals this season in Brazil in 14 games. Not a bad return at all. Why I would like to see Keirrison at Liverpool is simple, he could just be the player we need who can also get goals besides Torres and Gerrard. He is young and I am sure he would understand being part of Rafa’s rotation.

My main concern is that he has done so well in Brazil, will he cut it in the Premiership? We have a classic example with Lucas. Lucas was the best player in Brazil but when he came to the Premiership he looked average. The same could just happen to Keirrison. But hopefully he could settle in quickly at Anfield with the likes of Lucas and Aurelio with him.
The other thing complicating this transfer is the ownership of Keirrison. Currently Kerrison’s contract is owned by two parties: Palmeiras, have bought Coritiba’s share on the player (20%) with Traffic Sports Marketing owning the other eighty percent. Such arrangements tend to be complicated as we have seen with Tevez.

I guess we just have to wait and see how this situation pans out. Who knows, we may get the next Brazilian wonder at Anfield!

Reports this morning suggest that Rafa may be ready to look at bringing Samuel Eto’o from Barcelona to Liverpool this summer. This is not a far fetched story as Eto’o is stalling on signing a new contract at Barca and Barca would want to sell him this summer if he refuses to sign, than wait for him to leave for free in 2010. There will be no shortage of takers if Barca decide to sell Eto’o. Your Milan teams will want him and so to Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Just the name Eto’o is big and having a signing like him would be great for Liverpool. But as is the situation with us, we may not be able to afford him. The reports say Barca could want about 20 million pounds for him but I think they would actually want more especially if it turns into a bidding war between the teams. But for me my biggest concern is; how would Eto’o fit into our current system at Liverpool?

For me, Eto’o is an out and out striker like Torres. If we played with two strikers upfront then a Torres - Eto’o partnership would be the perfect match. But we have seen that Rafa likes to use the Torres - Gerrard combination and it is working well. I am not sure how we would be able to accommodate Gerrard, Torres and Eto’o in the same starting lineup.
It would have to mean that Gerrard would have to drop deeper into midfield or be pushed out wide and that would be a disaster as he has now finally found his best position which is just off the front man.

In the perfect world it would be great to have a player like Eto’o in reserve for when Torres gets injured but I can not see Eto’o willing to sit on the bench. Another option I had thought of was maybe playing Eto’o in an advanced role on the right in place of Kuyt. But then again, you would not be getting the most out of Eto’o. The guy needs to be in the box where he is lethal.

Food for thought! What do you think of Eto’o at Liverpool and would he fit in?

I am sure there are many fans sitting composing new songs and chants to welcome John Terry to their grounds after his tea-leaf mother provided us with enough ammo to last to the end of next season never mind this one. Obviously the credit crunch has hit Jt very hard in the pocket and the £125000+ wages cannot stretch to help his family survive in these difficult times. I feel so sorry for them…NOT… but I bet if i got caught nicking over £1300 worth of goods I wouldn’t be let of with a caution…get them into the nick where they belong.

But enough of the soap-box rant. We have all been on the receiving end of the old favourite ”In your Liverpool Slums” from away supporters at Anfield. Funnily enough it is Chelsea more than others who love this wee tune as their Pimms drinking, Prawn sandwich eating supporters like to remind us of how much money they earn/have. Well i thought it was about time a new version was released and I would like to thank Ms Terry for the inspiration.

” In your Chelsea slums,

You steal from Tesco’s for something to eat,

An M&S tracksuit and then some dog meat,

In your Chelsea slums.”

Very simple re-write but good fun.

Tonka Out - YNWA

JFT96..RIP

Those were the words of Rafa Benitez today when asked about the possibility of signing David Silva from Valencia. Only this morning; I wrote a post about us targeting Silva in the summer and how he would be a great addition to our team. But Rafa has now come out and said there will be no deal. Rafa did not tell us exactly why he will not be signing Silva but I think the main stumbling block is the asking price. It is thought that Valencia want £25m for the player. Now that would make him the record signing for Liverpool ahead of Torres. Earlier I had said that £20m would be okay to pay for Silva as we spent the same amount on Robbie Keane, but £25m may just be pushing it especially if Rafa only has £30m to spend this summer. I guess for now we can forget about Silva in the famous Red shirt but never say never, anything can happen! Rafa may have said all of this today so that other teams think we not interested in Silva. If the likes of Manchester City hear we after Silva they would obviously out bid us. So maybe Rafa is trying to play the ‘quiet card’, who knows?

There is one story dominating the papers today and it is about Rafa making a move for David Silva in the summer. With the amount of press being given to this story, I would like to believe that Rafa is actually after Silva. But knowing Rafa, he is going to be asked about this at his next press conference and he will deny it! I would love to see Liverpool sign David Silva. He could just be the other world class player we need in our squad. I guess the main stumbling block in this transfer is going to be the price tag on Silva. Valencia need money and they are set to sell their big name players this summer so they could be tempted to get the most out of their sales as possible.

It is said that Rafa only has 30 million pounds to spend this summer and if the reports are accurate that Valencia will want in the region of 20 million for Silva then Rafa will have very little left to buy other players if he settles for Silva.

I would not mind if we spent 20 million on Silva, I think he is a class player. Having Silva play on the left or right of midfield will give us that creative flair we lack at times when trying to unlock defences. Silva may not have lightning pace but his flair makes up for it. An attacking three of Torres, Gerrard and Silva would be lethal.

What do you think about signing Silva? And should we spend a lot on him?

Tonka sent me this video this morning and I thought I would share it with you. When I first saw it I could not believe it. But then I have watched it over and over again and I think they have played around with the camera here. Gerrard is brilliant but being able to do this is out of this world. I am not saying that it is impossible to do but I do not think Captain Fantastic actually did this. It is just an advert after all. What do you think about this?

There are several reports in todays papers which suggest that Liverpool may be ready to make a move for Valencia’s Spanish defender Raul Albiol if Daniel Agger refuses to sign a new contract. Firstly; I am a big fan of Agger and I hope that he signs a new contract and stays with us for a couple more seasons. But it is clear to see Agger’s frustrations as to why he does not want to sign a new contract. Agger is clearly behind Carragher and Skrtel in the pecking order according to Rafa. And Agger does not seem to want to spend time on the bench and instead wants to be a starting regular. Centre back is one of those positions where the coach really does not like to rotate that much. You need to have stability and consistancy there so the two defenders get to know each other and clearly Rafa thinks Carra and Skrtel are his best two.

Agger is a class defender and I see him and Skrtel as the future centre backs for Liverpool for many years to come. As much as we may love Carragher, I think he does not have that many seasons to go. He has been a great servant to the club but age is going to catch up to him eventually and we need to have someone ready to take over. If Agger is willing to wait then he should but I doubt he will want to. He wants to start playing now!

So if Agger decides to leave then we may make a move for Albiol. Now Albiol is another class defender but will he be willing to play second fiddle to Carra and Skrtel? A player of his quality deserves to start regularly. I certainly would not mind seeing Raul Albiol moving to Liverpool.

I guess at the end of the day; if Rafa is confident enough to give 3 centre backs equal opportunities and all 3 can comfortably play and rotate with each other then there should not be a problem. All 3 defenders; whether it is Carra, Skrtel and Agger / Albiol should understand this. And if they do then we have no problem.

Who would you rather have at Liverpool: Albiol or Agger?

I have been reading a lot of reports in the last couple of days which have been centered around the possibility of Rafa making a move for Real Madrid’s Arjen Robben in the summer. How true is this speculation; your guess is as good as mine. If the transfer rumours are starting this early then this summer is going to be crazy! IF Rafa is really after Robben then what would you think of Robben joining Liverpool?

I am not the biggest fan of Robben. I really have never liked him. He spends too much time on the ground and is rather a cry baby when he does not get it his way. There is no doubting that he has bags of skill and trickery which could unlock any defence in the world. On the other hand, Robben is very much injury prone. We do not need another Kewell at the club!

I think Rafa should look at other wide options and not get Robbe. What are your thoughts?

The season is about the come to an end and we still may win the Premiership and the Champions League. But I am sure many of you would agree with me that even if we win the double or even one of the trophies, we will still need to make some signings in the summer to bolster our squad. Where do we need to strengthen this summer and with which players?

First thing is first, we need another striker (or two). All too often this season when Torres was out injured we lacked a genuine goal scoring threat. Yes, Robbie Keane was meant to be the solution but we all know how that went. So Rafa has to go out and find another striker. The trick here is that we need someone with quality but at the same time, someone who is willing to sit on the bench when Gerrard and Torres are both fit as they are our best two striking options. So I do not expect us to be getting a ‘big name’ striker as that big name would want to play week in and week out. Unless offcourse this big name is willing to be part of a squad. If Man Utd. can keep Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov happy then surely we can do the same.
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As we getting close to the end of the season, it is that time again when people start to talk about who has been the best player this season. Not even being biased, I think there is only one person you can give this award to; our own Steven Gerrard. The bookies have Man United’s Vidic as the front runner with Gerrard second but for me, Gerrard is number 1.

Yes, Vidic has had a great season for United but so too Gerrrard. I guess it is really a toss up between these two and I am sure which ever one of those two players has a Premiership winners medal come the end of the season will be named the PFA Player of the Year.

Gerrard won the award in the 2005-2006 season and it is only fitting for him to win it again. But I am sure Stevie would trade the PFA award for a Premiership medal any day. For me, it would not be fitting for Stevie to end his career without being named the best player in the world at some stage. He is that great a player! But I guess football is not fair at times: Some great players have ended their careers without winning anything.

Do you think Stevie should be named the PFA Player of the Year?