Signings!

Well it appears I should have gone to Vegas sooner, or perhaps Comolli read my blog.

While I was away we finally completed the signing of Adam. Welcome to Chucky!!!. He does add some quality to our team. Hopefully we will let him continue to take corners and get in on the act at freekicks. Stevie G would be better using his height to score from corners rather than taking them. Adam has a good engine and an eye for a pass and I am sure our fitness people will ensure he loses some of the porridge he is carrying.

Downing is on his way as I type, although again I am baffled by the £20mill price tag. ManUre paid less than that for Young and I think he is a better player. Still we mustn't complain Downing contributed 7 goals and 7 assists last year in a team that struggled.If he can repeat or surpass that we will be happy. He is a left-footed winger and English, so he ticks all the right boxes. Anyway he looks better in a red kit, he never really looked right in a Villa one!

So far our new owners have provided serious financial backing in the transfer market and I imagine thre will be 1 or 2 more arrivals at Anfield before the window closes. A big big thank you to Mr Henry and Mr Werner. These owners are clearly a cut above the muppets we had before.

I think who we can get will now depend largely on what we can get for the players we dont want. Thankfully Konchesky has gone to Leicester, thats about his level. How he fooled us into thinking he was Prem quality is beyond me, just shows how much the Fulham team were covering for him!

Talking of Fulham great to see the return of 'The Hammer of Thor',John Arne Riise to the Premier League. Looking forward to seeing a few of his trademark thunderbolts at the Cottage this season.

Left back is now a priority and Luis Enrique at Newcastle seems the most likely at this stage. Strong, quick, good defensively he is exactly what we need. Flanno is good back up and he has gained invaluable experience with is late season run in the team last season, especially in the games against Arsenal and Man City. I suppose we can even swop Johnson over and let Kelly play at rightback as well if needed.

Another centre-half might not go amiss. Carra turns 34 in January and we seriously need to look for replacement. Perhaps moving Kelly inside with Skrtel is the long-term plan. I love Dan Agger however his fitness is a continual worry and as he is the only footballing centrehalf we have, thats probably what we should be looking for. Soty is decent cover but not really a top drawer player.

Some of my friends this we need more firepower upfront. I am not convinced. Carrol,Suarez,Kuyt and Ngog seems pretty strong to me.They are all different and that creates problems for opposition defences. Suarez is obviously going to be tired after his Copa America exploits however i think he will be our best player next season by soem distance. I can see him getting 20 plus goals. Carroll will weigh in heavily as well, especially with Adam,Downing,Gerrard and hopefully still Meireles providng the ammo. Think we will become the new Bolton and Stoke and be deadly from set-pieces.

Meireles situation disturbs me still, he is a quality player and I dont see how we can look to move him on. Joe Cole is taking a reputed 90k a week off us and he barely gets on the bench. I am sure Raul's wage increase, which he was promised, is nowhere near that. Aqua-man is back at the club, Juve seem a bit gun-shy to take him permanently. Probably down to them having no dosh. I believe Aqua-man was one of their better players last season. Tellingly Aquilani does not have a squad number on the club website and wore the 8 shirt against Guangdong. He looked decent against the modest opposition, as did Joe Cole but I cant see either of these 2 staying. Cole is effectively blocking Pacheco's progress a player who has more potential and brighter future ahead of him. Who knows what King Kenny is thinking about these players. My point is keep Meireles and move the other 2 on.

Our game against Guangdong was quite entertaining, a step up from the boring pre-seasons we suffered through under Benitez. These seemed more about getting heartrate stats than trying build up some momentum or team cohesion for the new season under Rafa. Kenny blooded several Academy graduates and other youngsters. It was great to see Flanno,Robinson,Coady(rasper!),Wisdom,Pacheco all getting a run. We went to sleep in the last couple of minutes and conceded 2 soft goals to dampen a solid performance from 4-1 to 4-3.

Kenny stuck to the 4-2-3-1 formation, not sure if that was down to resources available, ie no Suarez, or if thats how he intends to play. The player seem comfortable with it. We might switch it up a bit this season with 4-4-2 at home and 4-2-3-1 away. I think that would ensure we get the most out of our squad.

My home midfled would be Downing-Adam-Gerrard-Kuyt, away Lucas-Gerrard then Downing-Meirles/Adam and Kuyt.

Yep, no Henderson in either formation for. He is young and I really dont think he will cut the mustard. He isn't a winger I am not convinced with his centrally either. He was completely ineffectual in the England's U21 campaign ( along with 17 others!) Think he will be a bench warmer for most of the season. Spearing also loses out however in his case he can cover for Lucas or Steveie G in either formation so he will still get plently game time with Stevie's dodgy groin!

I hope to see a lot more of Flanno,Coady,Robinson,Pacheco to during the season and hopefully a bit of Raheem Sterling and Tom Ince in the Carling Cup. Getting into the top4 again is our priority and with the nonsense going on at Arsenal (Nasri and Fabregas) and Spurs (Modric), I think that is achievable.

Unfortunately I have to be honest and say that with the signings the Legions of Doom have made make them very strong for next season. Man City still have too many players and losing Tevez will be terminal. Mancini is too negative, almost any other manager would be getting a lot more our of what he has. Villas Boa at Chelsea needs to deliver the Champions League so will they really be contenders this year? Not sure anyone can take the CL of off Barca for the next 2 or 3 years.

I think Sunderland will usurp Everton and Fulham as the 'best of the rest'. Bruce has made some very good midfield signings, let just hope they don't gel just quite yet when they visit Anfield on the opening day.

I see Spurs are in South Africa to take on the Soweto giants Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirtaes as part fo their pre-season, all I can say on that one is........
Viva The Buccaneers, Viva the Amakhosi!

Malaysian X1 for us on Saturday should see another hatful of goals and again add to the fitness and cohesion of the team.

YNWA