Wenas!Where I am now it is way warmer than in England, however, maybe I had my best time ever in Liverpool! Here I got confidence through Rafa who believed in me. Was sold last year, or more of it, was involved in an in-direct exchange deal, taking me to a city where I, before Liverpool, had one of my biggest rivals. Have represented La Furia Roja at 18 occasions and scored four goals.

Apparently I also drink a lot of Sangria if to trust el canto? ¡Adiós!

Who am I?

Frankly, he does not actually SUCK…

This was yesterday’s post, or hybrid post (partly list of my top ten ex-LFC players, and a “Who am I?” quiz). Can you see, or maybe understand from the text who this is?

Pretty simple this one, if you have supported Liverpool for more than a year at least: of course it was Luis Garcia!

And now you understand why he actually does not “suck”… 

Luis Javier Garcia Sanz, as his full name is, came from Barcelona in 2004 for a fee of  approximately £4 million pund. He took England aback with his purely techniqual skills as well as hispotential in the air, even though he is half the size of a Crouch (more or less…: 1,76 metres or 5 ft 7 as el canton [the song] says). Garcia quickly assimilated himself in Rafael Benítez squad and scored several important goals, especially in the Champions League where his goals rendered with Liverpool kicking both Juventus and Chelsea out in the kick out stages in 2004/2005. Did feature against AC Milan in the finals, but was suspended the next season as Liverpool beat West Ham United in the FA Cup final, due to a suspension.

Was sold prior to the season of 2007/2008 to Atletico de Madrid for £4 million pund. It was said and assumed by many that he was part of an exchange deal with Fernando Torres going the opposite way but that was not the case – it was two separate transfers.

He will be missed by the majority of the fans, including me. As a last goodbye: el canton Garcia:

Luis Garcia

He drinks sangria

He came from Barca to bring us goals

He’s five foot seven

He’s football heaven

Please don’t take our Luis away!

A nine minute video of our ex-Red:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ff94jU3EDSU" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

AS you might understand, Garcia was a real favourite of mine! I hope he gets a good time in Madrid and that he can take a regular place in the first XI, even though there are great competators and he himself is closing in on retirement (30 years old now). Too bad they lost, 6-1 to Barcelona, Garcia’s former club, tonight! Really a shame…

After his deal was set, he wrote us this fantastic letter, which I have published:

Dear Reds,

First of all I’d like to apologise for not having been back in touch sooner, but I needed to take some time to take on board all the recent changes and then to put down these words for you.

I’m sure you will understand.

I would rather this be a letter of thanks and gratitude, not simply a goodbye.

Yes, that’s right, gratitude, because that is the word that best sums up my feelings for you all.

Taking the decision to change clubs hasn’t been easy. Not easy at all.

I’ve experienced three fantastic years at the club and in the city. Three years in which together, the fans and the team, we have accomplished some fantastic achievements, and I’m sure that these successes will continue to be repeated in the near future.

You know that I like a challenge and that I don’t just settle for second best.

Back then Liverpool Football Club gave me the opportunity to be part of an ambitious plan to put the Reds back at the summit of the game.

I think that together we managed to achieve that.

As I said, I do like challenges and in spite of the fact that at that time I was playing for my home town club, one of the biggest in the world, I wanted to be a part of that project that was being presented to me by Liverpool, and so I accepted the challenge.

Now, after three seasons in the Premier League and having won some major trophies, the chance came up for me to return to La Liga and be part of a new project at a club I already knew.

The idea of enjoying things in a Spanish club like we experienced together at Liverpool over these last three years appealed to me, and that’s why I accepted the offer.

I want to thank everyone working at Liverpool Football Club for how well they have treated both my family and I, making us feel at home from the very first day to the last.

I also want to thank the management, coaching staff and directors for the opportunity they gave me back then to be part of such an important and well-loved club as Liverpool. A club which has helped me to grow as a footballer and where to date I have enjoyed the biggest success of my career.

Without a doubt, this success has been possible thanks to the outstanding group of players with whom I’ve been able to share a dressing room over the last three seasons.

I’m not going to mention anyone specifically, because I think that the secret of this team’s success has been exactly that: nobody wanted to stand out above the rest and there has always been a great togetherness in the squad, which made it into something more than a group of players, it was a group of friends.

Thanks to all of you for your help and your friendship.

I’ve left until last the thank you which for me is the most important: Thank you to the supporters.

Your support allowed me to settle quickly at both the club and in the city, and you made me feel really at ease with you all right from the word go; that’s the kind of help that you notice most of all during the difficult times, of which there have been a few during my time here.

I’d like to especially thank you for making up a song for me and you should know that every time I heard you singing it, it was like an extra injection of strength and motivation, even helping me to overcome pain occasionally during a game.

Your unconditional support is the thing that ensures that this team manages to pull through in the most difficult circumstances; and I can assure you that the whole squad is aware of this and thanks you for it.

A football club isn’t just made up of players, coaches and directors. More than anything else it’s the supporters who make a club, and that perhaps is the ingredient which best distinguishes Liverpool Football Club from every other team. The supporters.

Because if one thing has remained obvious to me after these few years, it’s that with supporters like you, Liverpool Football Club will never walk alone.

I really hope that the club wins lots of major trophies in the future; I’ll be following it all from a distance, with the pride that you can only get from having been a Red and played for the home team at Anfield – a ground that every football fan must visit at least once in their life.

Thank you for everything. Yours most sincerely,

Your friend, Luís García

 The clue to Who am I? [1]:

Hi, or should I say hola?

Born in 20 of March 1984, I have played for Real Madrid’s local rivals and scored 82 league goals from my striking position in the red-white striped shirt, where I wore “You’ll Never Walk Alone” around my left arm. I was bought for a new Liverpool club record fee prior to last season.

- Who am I?

Of course it was Fernando Torres:

Okey, the first one was easy, just for you to get a clue of what this is about. The next one will be a bit harder, can tell you that, but that will come later.

Tomorrow, Goodison Park! YUMMY!

Milestones to be broken: 1000:th league goal, currently 997; Steven Gerrard’s hundredth goal, 99 right now; possible derby debutants: Alberto Riera, Robbie Keane, Andrea Dossena, and Alvaro Arbeloa (strange, no derby, but he has been here for a while now?).

More tomorrow, lads!