Anfield Red

Liverpool beat West Brom 1-0 at Anfield, with Fernando Torres scoring a volley in the 65th minute. Watch the video here!

Fernando Torres will start against Man City at Eastlands this evening, while Mascherano is not on the bench having missed the Trabzonspor game due to injury.

The World Cup may have started earlier today but that doesn’t mean the news at Liverpool takes a break. We’ve got a number of news items coming across the wire that piqued our interest on this glorious Friday evening.

Whilst you wait for Ireland France to play Uruguay, take a peek at what and who is talking about the club:

No comment, thank you very much – Steven Gerrard was asked to comment on the managerial situation ahead of our massive match tomorrow against the Yanks, and he was less than amused to have to rebuff another reporter asking the same bloody question after he already made it clear that he’s not commenting during the World Cup.

The transfer wires are buzzing this morning with the rumour that Liverpool are set to ramp-up their chase for Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. That seems pretty standard when you consider he was the front-runner for the open post all along. Whilst other names have been thrown into the mix, Hogdson’s name has been the name most commonly linked with the club.

I’d love to sit here and tell you Hogdson’s the man for the job, but I’d be lying through my teeth. Truth be told, there are better names out there to take over; although I’m not sure any of them could keep Fernando Torres and/or Steven Gerrard from leaving this summer, save for one name: Kenny Dalglish.

The Rafa Benitez era ended last week when the club came to a £6m buyout agreement with the manager, but today officially put a close to his reign with the announcement that he’ll be taking over for Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan in the coming year.

The Guardian, among others, is reporting that Benitez and Inter president Massimo Moratti have agreed to term on a three-year £4.1m deal that should be finalised by tomorrow with his introduction as the new manager of the club.

“We have worked out the final details, which weren’t important issues in any case,” Moratti said. “We will let you know when his official presentation will be tomorrow.”

First off, an apology to everyone here on the site for going MIA for the last month. I’ve been working away and taking a break from the mess going on with the club. You can talk all you want about it, but sometimes it just makes sense to step away, take a breath and then pick yourself up and continue. The break was much needed – although it still looks like there’s plenty to talk about after yesterday’s announcement.

There are very few people I trust when it comes to real, legitimate news on our club. One look at the tripe that’s plastered across every rag in the country is more than enough reason for any sane person to treat every story and rumour surrounding the goings-on at Liverpool as false from the start.

But if there is one person I actually do trust more than most, it’s Tony Barrett. Say what you will about the Times journalist, but he’s usually one with real news and answers when it comes to the pulse of the club. I’d implore all of you with questions to read Barrett’s recent live chat, where he took the time to answer a host of questions.

While I’ll leave the transcript reading up to you, I did want to point out some of the more interesting questions and responses, and also give my take on what I think about his response:

Rafa may not be able to sign big names in the summer unless he sells first, but that isn’t stopping him from going after players for the future of the club. Liverpool announced the £1.7 million initial fee for Charlton midfielder Jonjo Shelvey on Tuesday, marking Benitez’s first move of the summer.

The attacking midfielder has been tapped by his former coach as a future replacement for Steven Gerrard. Whilst that kind of high praise will only get you so far, it’s fair to say Shelvey comes to Liverpool with a some fantastic credentials.

Besides being the youngest player to ever play for Charlton at the age of 16, Shelvey has also logged 48 appearances for his now-former club. He’s also a critical part of England’s U-17 squad, meaning he’s got a future on the world’s biggest stage.

Steven Gerrard’s two goals over the weekend capped a brilliant performance by the Reds that saw them keep their Champions League hopes alive (if only slightly) for another week. Gerrard managed to bag a brace that doomed Burnley to relegation.

After the match, Stevie G discussed the loss of Torres and the blow it had to Liverpool’s chances. Even still, he knows the club has the ability to cope with the loss and finish the campaign on a high note — especially with the second leg of the Europa League semi-final looming on the horizon this week.

“I won’t lie. Sometimes when you lose your top striker, it can damage belief and affect your confidence,” said Gerrard. “But this was much better,” he said after Sunday’s match. “It was important we scored a few goals against Burnley and won convincingly.”

“We are now going to pile everything into Thursday’s game, which can’t come quickly enough,” said Gerrard. “The players are up for it and we have to leave every bit of sweat and blood out on that pitch on Thursday. Let’s hope we don’t have to score a lot of goals and we can win it with two. But if they score we have to score three; we’ll have to adapt during the game and do whatever it takes to win.

It’s great to see this bit of news after Sunday’s clinical victory over Burnley. It comes via the club’s official site:

Ian Rush has re-signed for Liverpool, with the Reds legend becoming the Club’s new Soccer Schools Ambassador.

Rush, still Liverpool’s record goalscorer with 346 strikes in 660 games and now a qualified UEFA pro licence holder, will also work with the Club’s commercial team to help develop and support partnerships with other global sponsors and brands.

Ian Ayre, Liverpool FC Commercial Director, said: “Rushie is one of the best known names in world football and I’m delighted he’s agreed to work with us. We’ve invested heavily in the redevelopment of our Soccer Schools business and with his help intend to roll out a global franchising opportunity within the next 12 months.

“We are already in discussion with a number of interested organisations around the world and Ian will work closely with our dedicated team of executives in developing these Soccer Schools opportunities.”

Rafa Benitez has named his team to face West Ham at Anfield; with David N’Gog replacing the injured Fernando Torres upfront.