Settimana a forti tinte italiane per le sfide europee: dopo la trilogia felice di Napoli, Inter e Milan che vincono in Champions, fa bene anche l'Udinese che, zeppa di seconde linee, ottiene un pari nella tosta tana di Glasgow, al Celtic Park contro gli scozzesi di Lennon. Perde, invece, la Lazio a Lisbona, davanti ad [.

Steven Gerrard has praised Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish for replacing high-earning fringe players such as Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen with 'hungry' new talent during the transfer window.
The club captain has suggested Anfield will be a better place without squad misfits such as Cole, who has joined big-spending French side Lille on a season-long loan - in turn freeing up the former Chelsea man's rumoured £90,000-a-week wages for new recruits.

Transfer Window Review (Part I) | Defenders

AnfieldIndex Liverpool FC Stats | Liverpool FC Blog | Liverpool FC Forum It doesn't seem so long ago, that I was writing the "What our team needs" series. That was back in April, and I identified 4 key areas that we needed to add some quality to the side.

Liverpool full-back Emiliano Insua joins Sporting Lisbon

Argentine defender signs five-year deal with the Portuguese side ending a four year stay at Anfield, with arrival of Jose Enrique limiting the 22-year-old's first team chances

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-08-27 08:34:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Emiliano Insua has joined Portuguese side Sporting CP on a five-year deal.
The Argentine left-back spent last season on loan to Galatasaray and despite being a regular for his country, he didn't figure in Liverpool's plans for the forthcoming season, especially since the arrival of Jose Enrique and emergence of Jack Robinson.

Emiliano Insua leaves Liverpool for Sporting Lisbon

Liverpool left-back Emiliano Insua leaves the club to sign for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon on a five-year deal.

View the full story here: BBC

A news article on 2011-08-27 08:00:11 from: BBC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Emiliano Insua joins Sporting Lisbon on five-year contract from Liverpool

Argentinian left-back Emiliano Insua has left Liverpool to join Sporting Lisbon on a five-year deal. Insua lost his place at Anfield following the arrival of Jose Enrique from Newcastle.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-08-27 07:41:01 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

In the second part of this two-part article, Guest writer Ryan McCarthy continues to explore the influence and ideological impact of club legend Kenny Dalglish since his return to the managerial hotseat at Liverpool Football Club.
Read part 1 here
These days it has become common practice for television cameras to zero in on Dalglish for his reaction when Liverpool score, which is usually arms rising to the heavens; a smile as wide as the Mersey; caught up in the infectious unbridled, childlike joy of the moment.

When Emiliano Insua broke into the Liverpool side in 2008 he looked like a teenager with a big future ahead of him.
The Argentinean was raw but showed plenty of promise. Sadly that potential hasn't been realized.
Insua played 31 league games in 2009/10 but too often was the weak link opponents looked to exploit.

From the official site:

Liverpool FC confirmed today that they had agreed a fee with Newcastle United for the transfer of José Enrique.

The club have now been given permission to discuss personal terms with the player, who will travel to Liverpool to undergo a medical.

On the very day monsieur Wenger and friends left Malaysia for China (click here to see our Arsenal video!), Liverpool arrived in the capital city. Yes, we literally had one hour to pack our stuff, leave and make it in time for the press conference.

Liverpool's reported search for a first choice left back has reportedly led to PSV Eindhoven's Erik Pieters. Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish is said to have expressed an interest in the adaptable 23 year old who can also effectively fill the centre back berth, another area that the Merseyside club may look to strengthen as defensive frailties became all to clear during recent pre-season matches.

Latest rumours surrounding Serbian International, Milan Jovanovic appear to suggest that the player has almost agreed personal terms with Belgian club Anderlecht.
His agent has claimed that a deal has almost been done between the two clubs and that all that remains now is for the forward to agree his weekly wages with the club.

Over the last week Liverpool FC revealed that new signings Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam would be wearing the No.14 and No.26 shirts respectively for 2011/12 campaign. They have added to that update by confirming that Stewart Downing will wear the No.19 shirt formerly held by Ryan Babel.

Mavinga Set to Join Rennes

Reports are emerging from France that Liverpool left-back Chris Mavinga is on the verge of a move to Ligue 1 side Rennes. Mavinga, who was signed by Rafael Benitez back in 2009 from Paris Saint Germain, is expected to undergo a medical with the French club on Tuesday as he has been unable to force his way into the first team set-up at Anfield.

First Half
Jones
Flanagan Carragher Agger Robinson
Spearing Coady Adam
Meireles Cole
Carroll
Second Half
Gulasci
Kelly Kyrgiakos Wilson Insua
Shelvey Poulsen
Kuyt Aquilani Maxi
Ngog
- Hansen for Gulasci 69'
Goals:
Adam 27' (pen)
Rahim 42'
Ngog 68' 70'
Maxi 75' 90+1
Safee 79' 82'
Kuyt 90+4'
Liverpool made sure to entertain on its Far East trip, scoring 10 while conceding six in its two Asian preseason games.

Liverpool Hit Six Past Malaysian XI

Liverpool finished their two game tour of Asia with an entertaining 6-3 victory over a Malaysian XI in Kuala Lumpur today. Two goals each from David N'Gog and Maxi Rodríguez, as well as Charlie Adam's first in a Liverpool shirt and one from Dirk Kuyt ensured that the large and vocal crowd were sent home happy.

Liverpool is considering a move for highly rated Uruguayan wing back Alvaro Pereira and have scouts monitoring his performances at the Copa America finals where the FC Porto star has been displaying good form.
The adaptable wide-man is one of many Estádio do Dragão stars considering their futures at the Portuguese side following the departure of boss Andre Villas Boas to Chelsea.

As much as I hate my birthday (and have since I turned 21), I'm actually publicly acknowledging it this year for some reason. A moment of weakness, most likely.
So, with a lack of content worth scribbling about – at least until tomorrow's first friendly against Guangzhou (8am on FSC in the US) – I thought I'd post a self-indulgent infographic showing my age relative to Liverpool's squad from the season before.

As more and more Liverpool players and staff members make their appearance on Twitter, fans continue scramble to see what they have to say about their personal lives, life day to day at the club and maybe even get a personal response to a question.

You can now gain an at a glance overview of what the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Luis Suarez, Dirk Kuyt, Glen Johnson, Lucas Leiva and new recruit Charlie Adam have to say from our current LFC players and staff Twitter Stream.

While the believed transfers into Liverpool FC of Alexander Doni and Stewart Downing continue to dominate Anfield related press, it has gone a little more quiet on the subject of a new left back arriving at the club.

With the club believed to be looking to bolster the squad in that area, will it be the likes of Cissokho, Baines, Enrique, Izaguirre etc arriving at the club or will Kenny Dalglish look to rely on the likes of Aurelio, Agger, Flanagan and Johnson to fill the role in the 2011/12 season?

Liverpool aim to fill the vacant left-back spot with the signing of Emilio Izaguirre from Celtic.
The Honduras international has been a revelation in the Scottish Premier League since joining the club for a fee that is officially undisclosed but reported to be no more than £600,000. Such has been his impact in the SPL that he swept the board at the player of the year awards at the end of the season despite his club only picking up the Scottish Cup.

Liverpool is reportedly planning an ambitious move to sign Arsenal left back Gael Clichy. Contract talks between the French international and the North London club have broken down and with one year left year on his Gunners deal Anfield director of football Damien Comolli is hoping to lure the 25 year old to Merseyside.

Look back at the usual starting eleven under Benitez in the 2008/2009 season, the season which we mounted our strongest Premier League title challenge yet finishing 2nd. The usual players (not in order of any sort) where:

Pepe Reina (Spanish)
Andrea Dossena (Italian)
Sami Hyypia (Finnish)
Steven Gerrard (English)
Daniel Agger (Danish)
Jamie Carragher (English)
Xabi Alonso (Spanish)
Yossi Benayoun (Israeli)
Albert Riera (Spanish)
David Ngog (French)
Fernando Torres (Spanish)
Emilano Insua (Argentinean)
Javier Mascherano (Argentinean)
Lucas Leiva (Brazillian)

read more

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is expected to be offered the manager's position at Anfield on a permanent basis in the coming weeks and the Scot is determined to conduct a significant clear out at the end of the season. He then hopes to use funds raised by the sales, along with a transfer budget handed to him by the club's owners in order to dramatically improve his current squad.

Is it Possible To Win Out With all the Injuries
by Thomas Atzenhoffer on The Bleacher Report
April 6, 2011
Michael Regan/Getty ImagesAnother weekend for the Reds, and another group of injuries to deal with at the back. The defensive ranks are left tattered once again as four top-choice defenders are all out.

The Reds look to Enlist new faces at the Back to Help Move the Club Forward.
by Rhydon Atzenhoffer on the Bleacher Report
March 23, 2011
Laurence Griffiths/Getty ImagesIt has been no secret this season that Liverpool have been in desperate need of a quality left back. Roy Hodgson's purchase of Paul Konchesky was quite simply never going to live up to life on Merseyside.

Looking Back at 2010 on the Liverpool Offside * January * February * March * April * May * June/July *

"Unless I completely missed the point, July closed with something resembling optimism the 2-0 win over Rabotnicki to officially start the campagin wasn't grounds for title predictions, but it seemed to be wholly positive despite the low level of the opposition.