Behind the likes of Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa in the league and as things stand not even qualifying for the Europa League through their league position, Liverpool are in a bit of mess.

But does that make it OK for Stevie G to dive?

via Republik Of Mancunia.

Speculation about the future of USA International and Major League Soccer rising star Stuart Holden continues. He's been offered a new contract by the Houston Dynamo as his contract ends on December 31st. There has been interest from Rangers and Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League, but English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers is reported to have a four year offer for Holden.

Harsh words indeed. But after his actions this weekend, his previous comments and previous actions, there is no other conclusion to be made. Read on to find out why...

Gerrard pulled off an outrageous (ly bad) dive against Blackburn on Saturday, in a desperate attempt to haul his flailing Liverpool side away from the mediocre parity they were sharing at Ewood Park.

The winter transfer window is only a few weeks from opening and rumors continue to swirl about various players. In Major League Soccer, there are several players who are attracting interest from the top European leagues. One of these is American International and Houston Dynamo player Stuart Holden.

Stuart Holden has plenty of offers now. (Getty Images)

We know MLS is trying to keep him but some clubs overseas want to have him pretty badly. According to multiple reports out of England and Scotland, Premier League side Blackburn Rovers is now in hot pursuit of Stuart Holden.

Of course that goes with Holden's other possible suiters in SPL clubs Aberdeen and Rangers.

Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea LIVE English Carling Cup Wednesday, December 2, 2009 20:00 GMT, 15:00 EST

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Blackburn v Liverpool Live Streaming & Match Preview
Premier League Blackburn vs Liverpool Live Online Click Here
Saturday, 5th December 2009
Kick Off : 15:00 GMT
Venue : Ewood Park, Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers will face a bruised and embattled Liverpool side at Ewood Park on Saturday 5th December, at 3:00 PM.

WTF?

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Can someone please try to explain to me what is going on? Rafa Benitez bought a footballer who was suffering from a long term injury, in fact he invested £20m (albeit in installments) in said player, and yet when he finally gets himself fit and ready for action, he isn't picked!

Former Liverpool FC striker Stan Collymore is calling on Steven Gerrard to leave Anfield "in search of the Premier League".
Collymore believes the Reds ace will never win the ultimate goal while with Liverpool and he says many players in the current squad are not good enough to play alongside Gerrard.

Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou leave for the the African Cup of Nations next week to fool around and twist their backs with the Ivory Coast in a minor league regional tournament that makes absolutely no sense just six months before The World Cup in South Africa.
So it looks like Nicolas Anelka, last year's golden boot winner, is set for a nice run out as the main man in the Chelsea attack.

When is Rafa going to play our newest signing Alberto Aquilani?The guy cost between £17 and £20 million from Roma.He arrived at Anfield as an injured player, his ankle being the problem.That meant he had to spend a while in the treatment room with the physios at Melwood as he underwent prolonged rehab and fitness courses.

Woah, way to go easy on Big Sam's heart, eh...

This was a terrific cup tie, with the balance tipped in the hosts' favour by Carlo Ancelotti's dubious decision to use all three subs at half-time. When Salomon Kalou went off in the second half, with what looked like a groin injury, Chelsea were down to ten men, with extra time looming.

Whilst I was researching win percentages for Liverpool managers, I came across some very interesting similarities between Rafa Benitez and Gerard Houllier. They're more alike as managers than you might think!
Take a look at the following table: When it comes to win percentages and total career games, Benitez and Houllier have almost identical records!

Rafa thinks that a new contract will be signed soon.

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Javier Mascherano contract talks please Liverpool boss

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has revealed the club are in talks to extend the contract of Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano.

Following on from the news that Steven Gerrard reached a personal milestone of 500 appearances for Liverpool against Blackburn Rovers, here is a list of top ten players who are currently propping up the most Premiership appearances table. Steven Gerrard is placed 36th with 344 Premier League appearances thus far.

FIFA Club World Cup on Fox Soccer Channel: third-place at 7pm and final at 9pm. EPL on ESPN2: Portsmouth - Liverpool at 7:30am. On Setanta: Fulham - Manchester United at 9:30am, Blackburn - Spurs on Xtra at 5pm (10am on Xtra). On FSC: Manchester City - sunderland at 10am, Arsenal - Hull at 12:30pm, and Aston Villa - Stoke at 5pm.

It was another full day of fixtures in Europe as many of the top clubs were in action. FC Barcelona was in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup Championship in the UAE while Real Madrid looked to close the gap with a win in La Liga. Manchester United could temporarily go top of the table with a win at Fulham as Chelsea didn't play till Sunday.

In this monthly segment, we attempt to answer the question, "Who should we take to South Africa?" Rather than taking the standard approach (doing our best to guess who Bob will take to South Africa), we focus on who we think Bradley should take.

Despite an empty international schedule and the termination of the MLS season since the last edition of Bradley's Babes, there have been a number of developments both positive and negative on the National Team front.

Glen Johnson is adamant Liverpool earned their derby day luck – but accepts they now have to make the most of it.
Despite being outplayed for much of the game, Rafael Benitez's side earned a 2-0 victory in the 212th Merseyside derby at Goodison on Sunday.
It was the Anfield outfit's first Premier League triumph in more than a month and moved them up to fifth place, two points off the Champions League qualification places.

What an interesting week it's been for Chelsea supporters.
First off, a Drogba-inspired Chelsea dismantle supposed title challengers Arsenal at the Emirates. Despite the home side bossing possession in the first twenty minutes of each half, Chelsea's strength, discipline and experience gave them a cutting edge up front and a brick wall at the back.

Liverpool travels to Blackburn on Saturday 5th December hoping to register their third consecutive win in all competitions. A Blackburn Rovers who must be full of confidence, having came through a nervy penalty shootout to beat Chelsea and advance to the semifinals of the Carling Cup.
Though not a crucial match, a win for Liverpool will help the Reds consolidate their fifth position in the Premiership league table.

Rafael Benítez's conviction that Liverpool are over the worst of a turbulent season gained further credence today when Fernando Torres returned to full training for the first time in four weeks. The club are confident their leading goalscorer will be available for Saturday's visit to Blackburn Rovers.

Steven Gerrard has admitted Liverpool must focus on finishing in the top four rather than trying to win the Premier League.
The Reds have made a dismal start to the season, dropping more points than would have been expected of them and crashing out of the UEFA Champions League as well.

Liverpool will be hoping to take another step on the road to recovery this weekend when they tackle Blackburn Rovers, who showed in midweek that they are more than capable of running with the Premier League's big boys.
Rovers booked their place in the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday with a shock win over table-toppers Chelsea.

A must win match for Rafa and Steven Gerrard.

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Blackburn will check on the fitness of David Dunn, who missed the midweek win against Chelsea with a calf problem.

Rafa Benitez's side failed to break down a resilient Blackburn side at Ewood Park.

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Gerrard goes close

Ngog his crossbar

McCarthy fires wide

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With World Cup fever catching the nation after a very favorable draw, I thought this week should be dedicated to 2010 in some way. I thought long and hard (that's what she said....) about what to do, but i settled on picking ten players that are on the fringes of a place on Capello's bench.

Rafa Benitez was falling over himself to praise Steven Gerrard in the run-up to his skipper's 500th Liverpool appearance, against Blackburn on Saturday.

Ironic, that, as Stevie G was falling over himself to win the match for Rafa:

From the side angle, it certainly looks like a crafty dive by Gerrard it wouldn't be the first time he's gone down in the box despite minimal contact.

Israelis advance in Europe, Scots do not...
A bit of what's bouncing around Butt's Brain in the past few days:

• How a soccer game survived a hijacking attempt. Big respect to most Celtic supporters for their actions during last week's Europa League match with (John Pantsil's former club) Hapoel Tel Aviv [Jerusalem Post]

• Avram Grant plans to raid Chelsea's bench for two players in January.

The fine folks over at Footy Factor beat me to it this bit of well-clothed information well done, good sirs but this tiny footnote had actually struck me right after the League Cup tie with Blackburn.

So the Blues have lost three matches this season (@ Wigan, Aston Villa, Manchester City).

The 2009-10 English Football Association Cup or FA Cup is now in the third round. It's been around for over a 100 years and allows any club in England a chance to win the cup. Recently, it has been dominated by the Premiership but notable upsets have occurred with League One and Two clubs. The third round draw has been released and contains some very interesting fixtures including Manchester United v Leeds United, West Ham v Arsenal, Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic v Hull City, and Reading v Liverpool.

No it isn't the beginning of a joke (well, perhaps a sick one), but here we go again. Listening to Rafa after another dire performance in midweek, I heard the words 'new start' for what seems like the umpteenth time already this season.
After the Fiorentina game Rafa said:
‘I don't think this defeat will affect us and now we have to get ready to face Arsenal.

"Rafa, remember me?"

Alberto Aquilani has told the Liverpool Daily Post that he is desperate to play against Arsenal this weekend:

"I need to play, play, play because I'm in a new team, and I need games now. My ankle is fine now, I feel good, and now I need to work hard in training for my body.

Coca Cola Kid could be on his way back to Blighty Turkey international Colin Kazim Richards has been put on the transfer list by Fenerbahce over claims he organised hotel orgies with three team-mates. The former Sheffield United has been put up for sale along with Vederson, Fabio Bilica and Santos. Coach Christoph Daum has said there [.

Everton held Tottenham to a 2-2 draw last week, and they managed to again take a point against a London side this time around. Their opponents this week were league leaders Chelsea, who twice let their lead slip as they allowed the Toffees to draw 3-3. It completed a disappointing week of football for the [.

With the end of the decade upon us and lists popping up everywhere, I thought it might be fun to have a series of polls for us to determine Arsenal's all-decade team.

Today, we start with goalkeepers. Arsenal really haven't had that many # 1 keepers this decade, so our options are limited.

Yesterday Landon Donovan signed a new four year deal with MLS, and simultaneously confirmed the rumors that he would soon be off to Everton on a loan deal:

"This is a very exciting day for me," Donovan said. "This has been a very ... I would say ... interesting decision for me.

Roll up, roll up. Please give a rapturous welcome to Harry Redknapp's famous Flying Circus.Witness simultaneous Bungee Jumping by the whole squad from out of the Den of Wolves to the top of the Colin Bell stand.Observe the world famous ex-clown Heurelho Gomes;Regard the prowling tiger Wilson Palacios;Behold the human projectile Aaron Lennon;Observe the World's nearly Tallest Man Peter Crouch; The

Ridge Mahoney in MLS Confidential wrote this on Stuart Holden. The Houston Dynamo midfielder looked to be seriously considering moving to Europe to enhance his footballing future after brilliant performances in the season just past.
What should Stuart Holden do?by Ridge Mahoney, Friday, Dec 18, 2009 12:48 AM ET

If he goes for the money, Stuart Holden is already headed for Europe even if he hasn't signed a deal.

They Think It's All Over... reacts to a day of surprises in the Premier League.