Fresh Faces :: New Scalps

Liverpool FC celebrate winning the 1978 European Cup final at Wembley.

Having followed LFC for 30+ years it's interesting (to me at least) all the stats associated with LFC.

For example LFC holds the record for the most home wins (gives you some indication of the power of Anfield and The Kop) of any English Football Club throughout the history of the Football League/Prem, and tied with the most wins overall with Man Scum (of course we have a vastly superior GD over them 151 extra and a better winning percentage 47.13% compared to the Scum's 46.76% due to playing in 32 less games).


It's not just home, but in Europe over the last 43 years too. With so many successes in Europe (8 titles and 3 Super Euro's) it's not surprising that we've payed against so many teams (99 different ones to be precise in 37 different countries). Well LFC.TV today is theorising that we may face our 100th different opponent in the third round qualifying stages for the Champions League.

Personally I'm a little amazed that we haven't played any from the following group before now, but that highlights their failure to step up in the big time. Toulouse (France), Lazio (Italy), Fenerbache (Turkey), and Werder Bremen (Germany) could become the 100 club scalp for LFC.

If any of those dodge the bullet then there's also Stuttgart and Schalke 04 (Germany), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) in the group stages and even Man Scum (as I said, it highlights their failure to step up in the big time) in the latter stages - of course LFC won't be competing in the UEFA Cup after Christmas, so that scalp will have to wait for another season!

Kewell Shows Signs of Wanting to Stay

Is time running out?

With a number of players coming and going at LFC, Harry Kewell has been an interesting one. He being allowed to stay on in his final year, there is no desire to sell and there is no contract extension being discussed. At 28 he's should be at about the peak of his game. A series of long-term injuries, however, have make it difficult to assess if this is in fact true as regards the Aussie.

An encouraging development from an LFC point of view is that this year , the left winger has decided to for go a family holiday/vacation to join up with his LFC teammates as they continue to tour the Far East. Admittedly he's pretty much just around the corner, having just competed in the Asian Cup with Australia.

He's claimed that because of all of the extra competition for places on the starting 11, he wants to get in there and show he can be part of Rafa's plans, but I've got to wonder if he's hoping that he can convince the Benitez to extend his deal. I get the impression that LFC want to see him do the same and see if he can stay injury free. If he can show that he's still the same player that impressed at Leeds, it can only help LFC's push for the Premiership this year.

Here's hoping that if he stay fit and that LFC see something of what we expect someone who wears the #7 shirt to produce.

More here.

Time to "Conquer the Bloody World!"

Shanks said it best and now Parry is intent to make it happen, as LFC go to Asia.

Lucrative pre-season tours may help but only winning trophies will truly boost a club's worldwide appeal, according to Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.

The Reds arrived in Hong Kong over the weekend ahead of the Premier League Asia Cup, which also features Portsmouth, Fulham and South China.

The mini-tournament represents the latest attempt by English clubs to cash in on the seemingly insatiable appetite for Premier League football in Asia.

Manchester United are currently in the midst of their own Asian tour which has taken in Japan, South Korea and China - with a frenzied reception greeting Sir Alex Ferguson's side wherever they have landed.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, Everton and Aston Villa are in north America and Tottenham are the star attraction in South Africa.

And while Parry is a confirmed advocate of his club's globe-trotting, he is adamant it must be supplemented by trophies to have any lasting effect.

"Nothing boosts your fan-base like success," Parry told the club's official website.

"We saw that in the 70s and 80s, then to a much greater extent in 2005 after we last won the Champions League.

"Had we been successful in Athens (in last season's final) then no doubt our fan-base would have been swelled even further."

He added: "Of course, we are extremely conscious of the huge following we have in this part of the world and it's good for us to repay their loyalty by visiting from time to time."

Licking Wounds

Well I shut down for a while after the Greek Tragedy that was the Champions League Final, and am now looking forward to the new season, with Rafa bringing in some interesting players, I'm just hoping that we can get off to at a flying start this time around.

It would be nice to win a cup trophy this year - the Champions League in particular (I still believe we will surpass Milan's hauls inside 5-7 years - which means at least three wins in that period), but to get the league back and then keep it for a bit would be heaven. Let's hope that it starts this year.

Head_2-Head :: G8-FORCE

STEVEN GERRARD

TACKLING :: Gerrard started out as a combative defensive midfielder when he broke into the Liverpool team as a teenager, matured into a box-to-box central midfielder before becoming an attacker outright. His development also saw him gradually curb the disciplinary naivety and regular horrendous challenges. However, he retains a real bite and still relishes the physical battle.

ATTACKING :: Gerrard has blossomed into a fine attacking midfielder and has even prospered playing out wide on the right, which would have seemed highly unlikely when he made his debut as a raw youngster in 1998. He has long boasted a fierce shot and incisive passing but in recent years has developed his running with the ball and crossing.

LEADERSHIP :: Gerrard was identified as a future Liverpool captain right from his early days in the famous red strip. He is not the most vocal of skippers but does have motivational qualities and solid knowledge of the game.

TROPHIES :: At club level, only the Premiership title has so far eluded Gerrard. The midfielder has won the FA Cup twice, the League Cup twice, the UEFA Cup and Champions League plus several peripheral trophies such as the Community Shield and European Super Cup.

GENNARO GATTUSO

TACKLING :: Gattuso is arguably the best in his position in the world. Never likely to be a playmaker, the former Rangers favourite has earned legendary status at the San Siro as a straightforward midfield terrier, pushing the boundaries of the law with high-tempo, aggressive ball-winning.

ATTACKING :: 'Rino' certainly knows his limitations and has never craved freedom to get forward. Instead, he roams in front of the defensive line, harrying, snarling and sniping. Cliched it may be, but the World Cup-winner possesses more football ability than people give him credit for, keeping it simple but efficient.

LEADERSHIP :: Like Gerrard, Gattuso leads by example. But despite his position, style of play and infectious passion, he has never captained on a regular basis. He has been unfortunate that at international level Italy are rightly captained by Fabio Cannavaro and the great Paolo Maldini still wears the armband for Milan. Coach Carlo Ancelotti prefers Massimo Ambrosini as Maldini's deputy rather than Gattuso.

TROPHIES :: Gattuso also has a loaded mantlepiece. He helped Rangers to the Scottish League Cup in 1997-98. In 2003 he won a Champions League medal with Milan and also the Scudetto in 2004. He played a pivotal role in Italy's World Cup triumph in Germany last summer, continuing his partnership with club-mate Andrea Pirlo on the global stage under then national team boss Marcello Lippi.

Thanks Chav$ki

There's only one team I hate more than Chav$ki, and them doing the "double" would've been unbearable, irrespective of whether or not we win on Wednesday.

I'm glad that the Chav'$ haven't won another Premiership title, but far less so that Scum were the ones to do it.

Now I can look forward to Wednesday in a slightly better mood.

Blessing in disguise?

I'm not sure how I feel about the news that Zenden is injured and may not make the final in Athens next week.

Part of wonders if he is the right choice to begin with. Yes he has a lot of experience, but I've never been that sure of our left side, ever since Aurelio got injured and Riise was pushed back to left-back.

Gonzalez, I think, doesn't have the experience to play in such an important game (although he could be useful as a late sub). I'm also not that keen on having Arbeloa at left back with Riise moving up, once again (although he's done well) it's Arbeloa inexperience for this kind of game that concerns me.

That really only leaves Kewell, who I think was in the running all along as far a Rafa was concerned. But with Kewell just coming back from injury, there's always the concern that he might not be 100% and match fitness will be an issue. I still remember how poorly he played in Instanpool at the same final as this, although he's subbing did lead to Smicer coming on, who then went on to score those all important goals.

If Kewell is at his best, and plays , it could be really useful. He does typically play well in the big games, and I 'm sure Milan won't have as much info on him and may find him hard to control.

Personally I think Rafa's slightly happy at the prospect as I feel he always wanted to pick Kewell, however, I think he'll be a little nervous at having slimmer back-up.

Milan Fear Liverpool

John Arne Riise believes Liverpool are AC Milan's worst nightmare because they hate playing against physical sides.

And the Norwegian full-back believes Liverpool will never allow the Italians the freedom to attack they had in the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United.

Riise prepares for his second final showdown with Milan next Wednesday in Athens convinced Liverpool can repeat their success of 2005.

Riise and his colleagues are increasingly aware that Milan believe them to be inferior to Manchester United, who the Italians eliminated in the semi-finals.

Their coach Carlo Ancelotti claims Liverpool are the poorest of the four semi-finalists and even United chief Sir Alex Ferguson believes Liverpool have no hope of success.

But Riise said: "We don't really care what people say, we deserve to be in the final. And we know Milan don't like playing against teams like us."

He added: "I heard some things earlier that they think they are the more tactical and we are the more physical side. But we can play football too.

"And they know we are strong and physical and we will use that to our advantage. They hate playing against those sort of teams.

"They looked like they struggled against the physical aspect when they played Bayern Munich earlier in the competition, even though they got through. But it is not something they enjoy facing.

"And we will play our own style of football that has been successful for us, we know that some teams hate to play against us because we play a physical compact type of game. We don't listen to other people because we know what we can do."

And Riise made it clear that Liverpool believe they can blunt the Milan style that caused Manchester United so much trouble in their calamitous second-leg mauling in Milan.

He said: "When they played against United their full-backs were almost like strikers or wingers. That is because United made room for them and gave them space.

"The way we play is quite compact and it will be hard work for their full-backs and wingers to get through.

"If they still attack us that way we will find space to hurt them. We have got the next few days to find their weaknesses and exploit them."

And Riise has faith in boss Rafael Benitez to produce the game plan to win Liverpool's second Champions League crown in three seasons.

"When he picks his team, and he knows who he wants to play, he will talk to every player to say what he expects from them and what the opposition player is going to do.

"Our manager is a tactical genius and he knows how to get his players ready."

But Riise accepts that this final must not start the way the Istanbul match did, when Liverpool were 3-0 down at the break. He said: "We cannot afford a three goal head start this time.

"It was called a miracle because of the comeback, but it can't happen again. This time we will approach the game perfectly and hopefully get a good start."

And Riise recalls Benitez's calmness in the face of that dreadful deficit in 2005. He said: "When you are losing 3-0 at half-time in a game like that you expect to get shouted at by the manager. All our heads were down.

"But the manager was very quiet and calm and explained what we were going to do. He wanted us to lift our heads, which we did. He said if we got a goal anything can happen. That is what we did and in the end, everything turned out okay.

"Once Steven Gerrard scored with the header, you could see the change in the faces of the players. We all seemed to get extra energy and the fans were lifted as well. We knew we had a chance. We just had to keep going."

Liverpool Close On Victor

Speculation is rife in Spain that Deportivo La Coruna winger Victor could be due to arrive on Merseyside for talks with Liverpool over the weekend.

Rafael Benitez has seen moves for Seville winger Daniel Alves, Atletico Madrid's Luciano Galletti and Benfica's Simao Sabrosa fail to materialise, prompting the Spaniard to switch to Sanchez del Amo Victor.

The player has been pulled out of the trip to Madrid for the weekend clash with Atletico and the former Real Madrid player, who has recently returned to fitness following a thigh injury, is expected on Sunday to discuss terms and undergo a medical.

A three-and-a-half-year deal is likely and Benitez will hope to wrap up the deal before the transfer window shuts on Tuesday.

Neville is a Dickhead

Gary Neville has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association.

The ManScum skipper attracted widespread attention with his stupid celebrations after Rio Ferdinand's undeservered last-gasp winner against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Neville ran fully 60 yards to launch a fist-pumping, badge-kissing reaction in front of the Liverpool fans.

The 30-year-old has until February 10 to respond, although as the case is not on the FA's new fast-track disciplinary process, it appears the worst he can expect is a heavy fine.

After failing to spot the incident during the game, referee Mike Riley has now viewed video footage and confirmed he would have booked the United man if he had seen what happened.

The FA have also been swayed by the concerns of Greater Manchester Police, which have been expressed both to United and officials at Soho Square.

Neville has received the support of the Professional Footballers' Association, while the full-back himself insisted he could not see what the problem was all about in his regular column in The Times. "You are caught up in the moment and, for a few seconds, yes, you do go bananas," he said.

The guy is such a dickhead, it has nothing to do with passion, if it was he would have run up to his own fans and gone mental, the fact that ran half the length of the field just to do it in from of the LFC fans, was inciting the crowd. If you ask me he should get a mandatory 1-match ban. He supposed to be the captain, what an example he is!

Liverpool defender Carragher thinks England squad member Neville went too far, telling the Liverpool Echo: "I think there's a line and Neville crossed it.

"I've heard people say it's justified because he gets a lot of stick from the Liverpool fans, but the truth is he gets the stick because he's been doing that for years. That's why it all started.

"I feel the same way about Liverpool as Neville does about Manchester United and from that point of view we're similar, but I don't act like that when we score against United.

"If I did, I'd expect United fans to give me the same amount of abuse."

The Greater Manchester Police have written to the Football Association to complain about the United skipper's antics.

WHAT A PRICK !

LFC Strengthen Defense

Denmark defender Daniel Agger is on the brink of joining Liverpool from Brondby.

It is understood a deal has been agreed in principle between the two clubs, subject to the 21-year-old passing a medical.

Agger was believed to be having that medical on Wednesday before completing his move to the European champions for an undisclosed fee.

The centre-half, who played in Denmark's 4-1 defeat of England in August, will become the second defender to join the Reds in January after the capture of Jan Kromkamp from Villarreal.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez tried to sign the centre-back last summer as cover for Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia.

Agger is fit again after recovering from damaging knee ligaments during a training session at Brondby in September.

That halted his rapid progress with club and country, where he made an immediate impression during the World Cup qualifiers.

"Daniel has been a good solution in the centre of our defence," Denmark assistant coach Keld Bordinggaard said recently.

Denmark head coach Morten Olsen hailed Agger's imminent move to Anfield and said he believed the player was good enough to make a big impact.

Olsen said: "He is confident about what he can do at the moment - he still has something to learn and he has a good mentality and if he goes to Liverpool I can only say they will have a top-class player.

"He certainly has to play 25 games because only in that way will he become a better player, and he is only 21 so he is not a player for the bench.

"Of course he has got to accept he maybe cannot play in the first team in every game but I am sure he will show that he is a top-class player.

"(This is a good move) for Daniel Agger and for the Danish national team because the Premier League is a top-class league," Olsen told Sky Sports News.

Gunners Aid LFC

A scoreless draw at Highbury tonight has allowed LFC to stay within 4 points of ManScum, with two games in hand. It was a blow when LFC drew with Bolton yesterday as this seemed to delay LFC in taking over the #2 spot. It also ends a strong run for ManScum since failing in Europe. Let's hope that ManSum continue to slip back into their November/early December playing ways, and Chel$ki lose a few (although 11 pts may be too tall an order to overcome now.)

Reds Aces Absolved In Bolton Storm

Steven Gerrard and Mohamed Sissoko are in the clear after the Football Association confirmed they will take no action against the Liverpool duo despite controversial clashes during their Barclays Premiership clash at Bolton.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce was unhappy that Gerrard and Sissoko were not punished with even yellow cards after alleging the pair had stamped on his players in two separate incidents during the 2-2 draw at the Reebok yesterday.

However, referee Mark Clattenburg has confirmed in his match report that he saw both Gerrard's clash with Kevin Nolan and Sissoko's tackle on El-Hadji Diouf.

Under FIFA rules, the FA cannot take retrospective action against players using video evidence if the match official witnessed the incident at the time,

An FA spokesman said: "Referee Mark Clattenburg has confirmed to us that he saw both incidents during the game."

After the match, Bolton's El-Hadji Diouf taunted Jamie Carragher.

The former Anfield misfit accused Carragher of trying to wind him up and said his goal was the perfect response.

Diouf was also unhappy at the way Liverpool went about the game, especially in Carragher's case.

"Sometimes people don't like me on the pitch but I am a bad loser and I want to win every time," the Bolton striker told the Trotters' official website.

"The Liverpool match was a big game because we needed to react after Sunderland and Manchester United.

"I have a big character and I don't like it when someone is talking at me.

"I told Carragher to wait because I'm going to score and that's what I did."

Nolan was quick to support Gerrard and would not back any action taken against him for his challenge.

"I just think Steven's accidentally stamped on me," said Nolan.

"His full weight was on his leg so it hurt but it's just one of those things.

"I thought it might have been deliberate at the time because he hurt me.

"I wanted to have a look at it and I have now and I don't think there was anything in it.

"I don't think anything should happen to him now because it would not be deserved."

Gerrard was stunned by Allardyce's outburst.

"I'm very surprised he is trying to make an issue of it," he said.

"It was a complete accident - he fell into me. I am mates with Kevin Nolan. He's a good Scouser so why would I ever try to deliberately hurt him?

"We spoke at the end of the match. I wished him all the best for the rest of the season and the tackle wasn't even mentioned."

Carragher wanted clean sheet

Jamie Carragher admitted the failure to keep a ninth successive league clean sheet took the shine off Liverpool's derby success at Everton.

Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard and Djibril Cisse got the goals which gave Rafael Benitez's men victory in the 202nd Merseyside derby.

But James Beattie netted for Everton just before half-time in a 3-1 win for the Reds - the first goal they have conceded in nine Barclays Premiership matches.

And Carragher told Sky Sports afterwards: "It's disappointing to concede just before half-time - we were expecting a battle in the second half but the third goal (by Cisse) killed the game.

"We are disappointed to concede because the aim before the game was to keep a clean sheet and we haven't done it."

The defender continued: "I know how much this game means - people talk about the Manchester United games but I think for me and Steven it's the biggest game of the season."

Liverpool are currently third, four points behind second-placed ManScum with two games in hand and 15 adrift of champions Chelsea. They can cut that lead to nine and overtake ManScum in the process if they win those two games.

Everton

It's the 202nd Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and Liverpool hope to continue their good form against an Everton side who have lost their last two matches 4-0.

A Milan Baros inspired Aston Villa saw them beat the Blues 4-0 on Boxing Day with the former Reds striker scoring twice. In the previous game Bolton beat Everton 4-0 at Goodison Park and in the previous game West Ham won there 2-1.

Last season at Goodison a Lee Carsley goal gave Everton a 1-0 win but Liverpool responded well in the return game at Anfield with a brilliant performance and a 2-1 win, courtesy of goals from Steven Gerrard and Luis Garcia.

In League meetings we are at number 173 today for this derby and the Reds lead those wins by 63-55.

Liverpool are on a great run of form winning eight successive Premiership games and equalling a club record for successive league clean sheets which dates back to 1923.

Liverpool players Pepe Reina, Peter Crouch and Momo Sissoko (who was suspended for the game against Newcastle) should make their Merseyside derby debuts.

Liverpool 2 - Newcastle 0

Liverpool gave their fans the perfect belated Christmas present as goals from Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch sealed a 2-0 home win over Newcastle to ruin Michael Owen's eagerly anticipated Anfield return.

In what was an impressive Boxing Day performance by the Reds, who showed no ill-effects from their recent grueling jaunt to Japan, Gerrard and Crouch struck in the first half to seal the points against a Newcastle side who were reduced to ten men in the second half when Lee Bowyer was sent off for a foul on Xabi Alonso.

Predictably, all the pre-match hype had surrounded former Red Owen's first appearance at Anfield since his move to Real Madrid in August 2004 but it was the current Liverpool stars whose praises were being sung loud and proud by the Kop at the end of this memorable festive fare.

The game began at a highly-charged tempo and Owen's first touch of the ball was met with a round of "good-natured" (WHAT!?) booing, followed by a jovial chorus of 'Where were you in Istanbul?'


It was his old club, however, who made the better start and, backed by a vociferous crowd, they went for the jugular from the first whistle. Only two minutes had elapsed when w surging run through the Newcastle defence by Fernando Morientes ended with Shay Given saving bravely.

Moments later the Irish keeper pulled off one of the saves of the season to deny Harry Kewell with a close-range volley and as the visitors struggled to clear Gerrard drove a low shot narrowly wide.

The Reds skipper seemed like a man on a mission during the early stages and it came as no surprise that his was the first name on the scoresheet shortly before the quarter hour mark. A cross from the right by Luis Garcia was played into Gerrard's path by a deft touch from Crouch and the inspirational captain did the rest, finding the top corner with a rasping right-foot drive.

Read the rest of LFC.TV's report here

Other Reports:
Sky Sports - Football 365 - Sporting Life - The Times

Owen Deserved Better

Michael Owen getting booed was definitely a disappointment. LFC fans are usually above all that. As for Owen stringing out LFC over his contract extension is concerned I always believed he was just trying to give Gerard Houllier and LFC every last chance to prove they could win something (ie the Prem, or at least the Champions League). He's a footballer before his a fan (as are 99.9% of the players out there) so he was looking out for either a better chance at silverware or more money (something he realistically thought he'd get both at Madrid). Don't forget the whole thing blew up in the last week of the transfer deadline, he was originally going to stay (Rafa had convinced him of that - at least in the short term.) I think he would've given Rafa a chance to prove LFC were something else. And if we had Owen, we wouldn't have had the same problems we had when we lost Cisse so early on. In fact we could well have had a far better start to the season or even a stab at the FA Cup and that, perhaps, would have convinced Owen so sign a new contract seeing Rafa vision - you can be sure he sees it now. As for putting people saying he was putting his place in the World Cup before LFC, it's more a case of putting the World Cup before Real (and for that every Englishman should be thankful). That's why he wanted to leave. He has always said that LFC was his first choice and Newcastle his second (something he even reiterated as a United player).

The money, however, was too much to justify buying him from LFC's point of view and Owen would have to practically play for free to make up the difference between what Newcastle and Liverpool were offering Madrid. Yes he could have told Madrid LFC or nothing, but that wouldn't have really forced their hand, they could still use him as a sub, rather than lose out on a big cheque.

I think he was desperate to come back, but again he freely admits that it would be wrong for Liverpool to have paid so much more for a player they had only sold just the year before. He knows that he made a colossal mistake going to Madrid, and doesn't need reminding of it. He was and is an absolute legend and an LFC great. He deserved a rousing ovation and would have got it from me if I had been there.

Hopefully when some true reds go to St Jame's Park they will give him the greeting all LFC legends derserve.

Next Game

Michael Owen returns to Anfield for the first time since leaving for Real Madrid last Summer. The Newcaster striker readily admits that he could well have return to Liverpool this summer, but that things didn't work out. Rafa Benitez has also said the although deal wasn't possble this year that the door is most certainly not shut and he would consider Owen in the future.

Benitez has put it in Jamie Carragher's hands to keep his close friend and former team mate at bay when the two sides meat on Boxing Day.

Michael Owen is bound to recieve a warm welcome by the majority of the KOP, famous for their love of their players both new and old, although there will be a number that still haven't forgiven him for the fact or even the way he left for Real Madrid. One things for sure only the travelling support will be cheering if he manages to score this Monday and Owen saysthat he has fond memories of his time at Liverpool but insists he will not feel "guilty or embarrassed" if he scores in front of the fans who once adored him - nor will he try to rub salt in the wounds.

"I remember a conversation with Jamie Carragher a while back when we saw a player looking downcast after scoring against his old club. I don't think either of us could understand that and, if I score, I will celebrate as joyfully as I did at West Ham United last Saturday...I won't shy away or feel guilty or embarrassed, but nor will I be running over to the Liverpool bench and sticking two fingers up."

Another player who is returning to his face his old club is midfielder Didi Hamann, who has reponded well to treatment after suffering injury to his knee following a horror tackle from Essien (Chel$ki) earilier this month. He is still expected to line up in Midfield while Momo Sissoko serves a one game ban.

Meanwhile Alan Shearer is hoping to break the club record of most goals scored by a Newcastle player. It is unlikely to come this Monday, however, as Liverpool's defence has only been breached once in the last 12 games.

Teams:
Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Warnock, Traore, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Hamann, Kewell, Cisse, Morientes, Crouch, Josemi, Sinama-Pongolle, Carson.

Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Carr, Ramage, Babayaro, Elliott, Boumsong, Bramble, Taylor, Faye, Emre, Solano, Luque, Ameobi, Bowyer, N'Zogbia, Clark, Brittain, Shearer, Owen, Chopra.

Rafa: Door still open for Owen

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has left the door open for Michael Owen to return to Anfield permanently one day.

The England striker, now at Newcastle, will on Boxing Day make his first appearance at Anfield since leaving to join Real Madrid in 2004.

He returned to the Premiership at the start of this season but joined Newcastle, not Liverpool, as his former club were priced out by United's £17million offer. Owen's exit from Liverpool came soon after Benitez's arrival. But the former Valencia coach insisted he had been keen to sign him this year and would still welcome him back in the future.

"Sure, why not?" he said. "He is a good player and good players are always interesting to other clubs."

Liverpool sold Owen, now 26, for a cut-price £8million plus Madrid reserve player Antonio Nunez and the Reds maintained they could not justify paying more than double that to re-capture their former golden boy.

"What is clear is that we tried to sign him and he knows we tried to sign him," said Benitez. "It is impossible if another club makes a bid of such big money. It is difficult to say we must spend that money on a player that one year before we sold for much less. "There were several reasons why it didn't happen in the summer: the price, the time, the decision of Michael and the fact that we already had good strikers at the club. All of these things together made it impossible to change the situation in such a short space of time."

"He had a good offer from a good team and he decided to go there. He is a good professional but we had to think about the club, because we already had good strikers and it was almost impossible. "I was talking with him, we tried to the end but he decided on Newcastle. We cannot change these things. "The only possibility was for him to say he didn't want to go to Newcastle. But he decide to go there, even up to the last day we tried. "I had permission from Real Madrid to talk to him and I did. But in the end he decided to go somewhere else. We couldn't do anything."

Owen had spoken out just the day before talking about the hectic few weeks leading up to the transfer deadline in the summer. "Looking back on those mad few weeks, the one thing that no one can say about me is that I was not up front and honest. I had narrowed it down to three options and, all the way through, I made it plain exactly where they stood. As I said at the time, Liverpool were my first choice, Newcastle my second. The third was staying at Real.

"I had to look after my England place and I had to look after myself. I would always prefer to be playing rather than twiddling my thumbs. The buzz from playing is irreplaceable. Every footballer wants to feel valued and I have had that in spades from the Newcastle people. "They understood why Liverpool was my first choice. I had spent more than a decade there and I did think I would be going back when I met Rick Parry and Benítez just before the transfer deadline.

"We had discussed the wages and all the nitty-gritty of a contract, so I have no doubts that their interest was genuine, whatever you may have heard. But it was difficult for them because they had sold me for £8.5million and were being asked to pay considerably more to take me back. They had to make their own financial decisions."

Reds International Roundup

Liverpool players didn't fair too well today in their various international World Cup Qualifying matches:

• Steven Gerrard & Jamie Carragher were part of the England team that suffered one of the most humiliating setbacks in their history as a David Healy goal earned Northern Ireland a shock 1-0 win in a World Cup qualifier in Belfast. On-loan LFC keeper Chris Kirkland was an unused sub on the bench, while Stephen Warnock failed to make the squad.
  England now trail Poland, who are top and 5 points clear with one more game played than England. The two team will meet in the final group game. England will need to beat Austria and Poland to qualify top, anything less will see England in a play-off spot (which is secure). Liverpool's Jersy Dudek is expected to have recovered from injury in time to play that final game.
  
  
• John Arne Riise was part of the Norway team that lost to Scotland, which has really blown apart the race for the second spot in Group 5.
  Norway are still in second spot, but now they lie a virtually insurmountable 5 points behind leaders Italy and in joint second with Slovenia, their victors today are a mere two points adrift and still in with a shout of making the play-offs. (England v Scotland anyone?)
  
  
• Xabi Alonso and his Spanish team were held to a 1-1 draw in Spain by Serbia and Montenegro. Jose "Pepe" Reina and Luis Garcia were on the bench, while Morientes pick-up an injury before the game and was unable to play.
  Group seven is wide open, where Spain now lie second behind today's adversaries, just two points adrift but also only 1 and 3 points clear of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium (respectively), the later who they play next and must beat, before taking on minnows San Marino in the final group game.
  
  
• Sami Hyypia's Finland destroyed fellow Group One competitor 5-1, but a win by Old Boy Milan Baros' Czech Republic side have now made the unlikely now impossible as Finland have no chance of qualifying for next years finals.
  
  
• Djibril Cisse was a late second-half substitute for France as they beat unused substitute Steve Finnan's Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Dublin.
  France are should be all but through from Group four which they jointly lead with Switzerland (their next opponents), before facing Cyprus in their final group game. The Republic must hope that France win their next game while they dispose of Cyprus, to have any chance of qualifying by beating Switzerland in the final game. However, anything less than two wins by the Republic and two points by France will see Israel (who only have Group 4 whipping boys, the Faroe Islands to beat) qualify ahead of them, along with the Swiss.
  

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Most likely outcomes:

Group 1: Sami Hyypia's Finland are already out.
Group 4: Cisse's France should qualify from Group 4, either as automatic qualifiers or in the play-offs. Finnan's Republic of Ireland is a little more unsure, as long as France beat Switzerland, they should have a good chance of beating the Swiss on home soil.
Group 5: Should see Riise's Norway advance (most likely though the playoffs) as they only have two games against bottom teams Belarus and Moldova, Meanwhile Scotland and Slovenia must face each other in the final game, this after Slovenia have played Italy. For Scotland to qualify ahead of Norway, Norway would have to fail to win one of their two remaining games, while Slovenia would have to beat Italy and Scotland by greater goal margins than the Norwegians do in the final two games - both scenarios are extremely unlikely.
Group 6: England are assured at least a play-off spot, but will need to beat both Poland and Austria, to secure top spot and automatic qualification. Both games are at home and England will have a better than fair chance of going top after the final game.
Group 7: As long as they can overcome fellow challengers Belgium in their next game, Spain should qualify with their last game against lowly San Marino. Serbia and Montenegro home game to Bosnia-Herzegovina will determine whether they finish top or in a play-off spot.

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Predictions:

Group 1: No "Last Hurrah" World Cup for Sami.
Group 4: Cisse will sing from the top of the group.
Finnan will be spending his summer on the beach.
Group 5: A play-off spot for Riise.
Group 6: Gerrard, Carragher, Kirkland, Crouch and Warnock will top the group.
Jersey will hope for a easy play-off opponent.
Group 7: The class of Xabi, Garcia and Jose, should bring Spain to the top, but Serbian strength will break their hearts and send them to the play-offs.