Anfield Red

Pepe Reina has signed a new 6 year contract at Liverpool to finally give the fans some good news this season.

Whilst I know we’ve all been trying to come up with our own reasoning for Alberto Aquilani’s lack of consistency this season, I believe it’s safe to assume that his ankle injury, coupled with a new football environment, has played a huge role in making him look utterly useless at times.

But what about his football tactics? It’s hard to sometimes get over looking at Aquilani at face value to really see that there could be tactical problems with his play as well. Blame it on Rafa, Aqua or both, Tom Williams’ recent article sheds some light on the subject.

It’s a brilliant piece, and I’d highly recommend everyone take a read at it when they have a minute. I’d put some excerpts here, but I’d rather his site get the hits.

I’ve never been one to believe half the tripe in the Daily Mail but if today’s interview with Fernando Torres is to be believed, then maybe his frustration with the club didn’t start recently with the run of bad form and inability to keep up with the race for fourth.

Torres, who already spoke of his frustration with the lack of quality signings earlier this year, made it clear that the departure of Alonso, Hyypia and Arbeloa forced Liverpool to find new ways to cope with an already-thin squad.

“After a good season last year, the team needed certain reinforcements and to keep the squad together, but circumstances dictated we had to sell and everything got messed up,” Torres told the Daily Mail.

“The sale of Arbeloa, Hyypia and Alonso was an important loss. Alvaro was a player who did a vital job for us, always played to a high level and his flexibility was a huge bonus.

Yossi Benayoun returns to the starting line up to face Birmingham in place of Ryan Babel, while Daniel Agger is on the bench; replaced by Kyrgiakos.

Roughly 60 minutes remain before Liverpool and Benfica take the pitch for tonight’s Europa League match at the Estadio de Luz, and already I’m chomping at the bit to see how we play against a quality opponent.

There’s nothing better than settling down for the match with a pint and pie to watch the Reds. Seriously, there’s nothing better. I live for these kind of nights.

Who’s going to shine tonight? I’m not quite sure. But the lads over at Picklive seem to think I know something. They asked me to pick three players to watch for in tonight’s match. I was more than happy to help out, partly because I’m addicted to their game. I’d highly recommend giving it a try tonight when you’re watching the match. If anything, go over to their site to see who I picked!

Instead of doing a regular preview prior to tonight’s match, I figured it would make more sense to give everyone a sense of what we’re going up against tonight. As you probably already know, Liverpool have had difficulty with Benfica in the past — most recently in 2005/06, when the club was unceremoniously ousted from the Champions League knockout stage by a hungry Portuguese side.

A year after winning the Champions League final in Istanbul, a return to the knockout stages seemed like a lock. It wasn’t until Liverpool got into the thick of it with Benfica that they realised just how technical and put together they really were.

Whilst Benfica may not be plying their trade in the Champions League this year, they have made the most of their Europa League run, steamrolling, among other, Everton and Marseille, in their march to the quarter-finals. Liverpool understand the important of getting a positive result tonight at the Estadio de Luz, especially given Benfica’s ability to carve out victories away from in this season’s competition.

But the task won’t be easy; Benfica have only allowed five league goals this season at home, meaning any goal or result we get tonight well have to be earned.

Alberto Aquilani made his way to Liverpool in the summer for a rumoured £20m transfer fee, but that hasn’t stopped someone from playing a silly joke on the poor Italian.

Take a look at this eBay auction currently going on. Considering the number of injuries and knocks he’s encountered this season, maybe £0.01 is a good starting price. Although, I’m sure someone within the club will be bidding up the price at some point to really inflate his value!

Fire up the transfer rumours, lads! We’ve got ourselves a whopper right here. The man in question? None other than Real Madrid’s Raul, a player that, like Steven Gerrard, has spent his entire professional career playing for one club.

At 32 years of age, Raul is far from being a spring chicken on the pitch. During his prime, the striker was one of the biggest names in the sport. Now, he’s looking more and more like a player that most certainly has to come off the bench.

So why is he being linked with Liverpool? I’d imagine it has something to do with Benitez and his affinity for Spanish players. Plus, the rumours that Madrid are planning a mass cleanout this summer, with roughly nine players being put on the block, have probably led us to this point.

Alberto Aquilani just can’t catch a break. After scoring his first Premier League goal a fortnight ago against Pompey it seemed like the Italian midfielder was finally getting his feet under him, after he failed to impress during his first five months at the club.

But then came a virus, which rendered Aqua useless for a couple matches. A virus is no big deal, but the news coming out of Melwood that he’s sustained another ankle injury and will miss the upcoming match against Benfica is reason for concern. Especially given the fact that the ankle in question is the same one that kept him out of the latter stages of Roma’s Serie A campaign, as well as the first part of this season.

A two-and-a-half month injury layoff all but decimated his season until a couple weeks ago, but maybe, just maybe, Glen Johnson is finally finding his form that made him Rafa’s most sought after transfer signing last summer.

“It was a fantastic feeling to score my first goal in front of the Kop,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“I cut inside and wanted to get a clean strike at goal and it was nice to see it go in with my left foot.

“I’m feeling good again. It’s not easy to come back when you’ve been out for so long but with every game my fitness is getting better.”

The right-back launched an absolute screamer with his left into the back of the net against Sunderland, showing everyone at Anfield why he’s such a unique talent for a wing-back. Whilst he cost a king’s ransom to bring in last summer (£17million), I think it’s safe to say he was the most exciting signing for the club.