You have probably heard of the newest rumours about this new Brazilian super talent Keirrison. I think it was the Daily Mail that went out with the news that he is on his way to either Anfield, Mestalla, or Camp Nou. To me it is plausible that he is the talent everybody says he is, mais c’est-qui Keirrison?

Keirrison celebrating a goal.

 Born in December 3, 1988, Keirrison de Souza Carneiro quickly made his way up the ranks of Coritiba Football Club (from where the Schalke 04 right back Rafinha and FC Bayern’s defensive midfielder Ze Roberto both have played for as younsters) and was taken up in the first team in 2007. Coritiba fought that year its way to promotion to Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, the Premier Division, with some help by Keirrison. The next season he scored 12 goals in the Premier Division and 18 goals in the regional competition Campeonato Paranaense. Today he has played 101 games (!) for Coritiba and scored 67 goals! And he is 19!

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A bit startling that he already has played over 100 games for his club at 19 years of age, but I think the Brazilian system is very much different from the English/European ones, with more competitions and more responsibility for younger players.

I do not know where the price tag will be put, but I have read about it being somewhere in the region of 10-12 million pound – a lot for a guess. But, Rafael Benítez turned down Sergio Aguero two years ago as a “guess”, so maybe…

A goal in the making.

Future will tell whether the rumours actually was real or if it, as I might just expect, was  malarky as most of the exciting stuff nowadays…

Well, looking forward to tomorrow’s Premier League game against Tottenham on White Hart Lane (will probably not have time to write a post, is moving and studying my a** off right this weekend…). Please, let Robbie Keane score now, such an irony getting his first Premiership for Liverpool against Spurs! Heard that Fernando Torres probably is fit for fight, but we will see whether Rafa goes for him or for Keane (maybe for both?).

A decent 1-0 win over Portsmouth yesterday night secured another four days at the top of the table. A ‘76 winner by Steven Gerrard sent Pompeys and their new manager Tony Adams home without a point.

Anfield.

Most of the pre-match talk was about two things, or persons, namely Peter Crouch and Tony Adams. Crouch, our ex-striker, has done a great job in Portsmouth so far, and even Rafael Benítez has admitted, now as Crouch has left, that the 6 ft 7 English international has developed since his time in Southampton. Four goals in nine games prior to the Liverpool game impressed a lot of people, includning me. The other subject to discussion was Adams, the new manager. No real experience of managing top teams, but he has over 500 caps for Arsenal in the Premier League before he quit in 2002. Sure, he would have to stand up for it, but we all knew he might just get away from the first game without getting the ax.

Rafa and Adams shaking hands.

Now, the line ups for the evening:

Liverpool: Reina; Arbeloa, Aurelio, Carragher, Hyypiä; Lucas, Alonso; Pennant, Babel, Gerrard; Kuyt. To me no surprise Sami Hyypiä was getting the chance now, as Agger has had some games in a row without real match-fitness. However, more startled by Xabi Alonso’s participation – he if someone in Liverpool I thought would be really tired due to tough matching by Rafa. But on the other hand I was pleased by Lucas Leiva and Jermaine Pennant who both now could get some time on the pitch, and not to forget is Ryan Babel who got his first start of this season in the League.

Portsmouth: James; Pamarot, Traoré, Distin, Kaboul; Diarra, Belhadj, Davis, Papa Dioup; Crouch, Utaka. Very glad to see Jermain Defoe on the bench! John Utaka showed some great displays and scored a lot in France, Stade Rennais if I am not mistaken, but in England he has not yet proven worth his £7 million. Some youngsters and some other exciting players on the pitch in Armand Traoré, Younes Kaboul, Lassana Diarra, and Nadir Belhadj. Main danger though: Crouchie. No time for any credulous belief in that kind-looking Crouch would spare the gun powder on us. Note that Glen Johnson did not participate, as I had anticipated.

The first period of the first half was controlled by Liverpool, but no real chance was created out of the possession. We might have sensed the abscence of Fernando Torres up front. Robbie Keane’s performances in Tottenham were much more impressive than his start in Liverpool, that has to be admitted, but I want to defend him still and say that I think he will shape up. We maybe cannot draw up an analogy between his role in Spurs to his role in ‘Pool. And since he did not start in this game, I will leave this for later.

The former Red striking pair, now against each other.

Well, leaving that, coming back to the game. Liverpool had about 80% of the possession, which is fairly good… But, no goals were arriving, and  Portsmouth slowly bit themselves into the game again, and the first half ended 0-0, which Portsmouth maybe should have felt happy with (probably did).

Pennant had had some nice runs, and Ryan Babel exposed Pompey’s defence again and again, and Alonso so far showed no signs of being tired. Dirk Kuyt was not really that hot, but did a good job and was not totally out of chances (had one in the post in the tenth minute).

The second half was not better than the first, seen to Liverpool’s performance, but the game must have been good for the neutral one (maybe not as good as the 4-4 derby at Emirates, Arsenal-Tottenham though). Great tempo and some lovely tackles, mainly from Alonso and Gerrard, but some nice challenges from Lucas, and Sylvain Distin in Portsmouth seemed to be on fire). Just me who gets oh, how excited when Gerrard rushes slightly behind an opponent to a long ball or when he is in that particular position where you just know a sliding challenge would suit perfectly? Alonso’s sliding challenges are also nice (I am maybe a sadist, lovely to watch and to do sliding challenges myself). But no real push came from Liverpool.

In the 75th minute though, the chance popped up! A corner was hand balled by Papa Bouba Dioup (who by the way made his Portsmouth debut against Liverpool) just as Sami Hyypiä was to flick it into the penalty box area and the whole Kop went to its feet. Penalty.

Steven Gerrard, 76th minute: Link, highlights, CLICK HERE.
David James guessing and throwing himself in the right direction, but Gerrard is dead clinical from the spot. 1-0!

In the end of the game Portsmouth bit back, just as in the first half, and Liverpool made some silly mistakes with passing, but Liverpool were never really threatened and they could easily hold the lead until the end and three more point were added to the tally.

 Gerrard celebrating in front of The Kop.

So the standing, top five:

The 10th game of the Premiership will kick off at 20.00 GMT tonight as Liverpool play Portsmouth in a mid-week game. Liverpool started a two-week series of tough matching against Chelsea, Sunday, which looks like this:

 And, the next game will so be tonight.

Portsmouth, currently 7th in the league, at 14 points, have recently got a new manager, the former Gunners captain Tony Adams. Adams, with no real managerial experience except Wycombe Wanderers in League 1 and League 2. He has been coach for Feyenoord and Utrecth in The Netherlands before getting his at that time most glamourous job as assistant manager for Harry Redknapp in Portsmouth. Today, he is manager for them.

I think we will win the manager duel pretty easy, even though Rafael Benítez has admitted that the Premier League is harder than La Liga (saying in La Liga there are just Barcelona and Real Madrid)… Adams is not to be underestimated though, we have seen some former players advancing and doing it good as young manager, for instance Roy Keane (Sunderland), and Chris Coleman (tried with Fulham and with Real Sociedad, but is now in Coventry). Hard debut game for him though, we will not make it easy for him…

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Maybe it will be a bit easier than expected since Fernando Torres will miss out due to his hamstring injury, but on the other hand we won without too much problem against Chelsea without him, and we won against Manchester United as well without him on the pitch. Instead, I think most people focus on Peter Crouch. The 6 ft 7 striker scored 22 goals in 85 league appearences for us, but he has been doing better in Portsmouth, where he has scored four goals in nine games. He scored Pompey’s only goal in the last game (1-1 against Fulham) and I truly hope Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger (or maybe Sami Hyypiä, having the tough scheme in mind) can deal with him. However, we should not forget the other threats as well.

Players such as Glen Johnson, David James, and Niko Kranjcar can cause a whole lot of trouble, and then we have Jermain Defoe, who at the moment has scored as many goals as Fernando Torres has.

Some threats for Rafa to keep and extra eye on: James, Defoe, Kranjcar, and Johnson.

Rafa has said this is a ‘crucial week’ and now I think he really starts to feel the pressure. He says:

“It is a crucial week for us. We are at the top for the first time and everybody is waiting for our reaction, to see whether we can we handle it. So we must concentrate even more now. We must not slip up or lose our focus. We are in a fantastic position and we will try to stay there as long as we can.”

‘As long as we can’ – to the end?

Key man as always, Steven Gerrard.

I hope for the following line up, having next game in mind: Reina; Arbeloa, Dossena, Carragher, Agger; Benayoun, Babel, Mascherano, Gerrard; Keane, Kuyt. Robbie Keane and Dirk Kuyt up front to produce – it has shown now that Keane mainly makes the chances come for others, which might show valuable if Kuyt can produce as he did against Wigan! Xabi Alonso has played a lot the latest month, and I think Rafa rests him now, but Steven Gerrard we cannot put on the bench, we still have to stay on top of the league, just as Rafa says. Albert Riera gets to rest, and in comes Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun on the wings, which will provide speed and technique. In defence, no real changes are made except bringing on Andrea Dossena instead of Fabio Aurelio (who did not make it too good against Chelsea).

Kuyt, maybe key role today.

Key Men:

Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt. Steven Gerrard will provide the build-up, possibly together with Keane, and Kuyt will finish.

Potential Dangers:

The most obvious has to be Peter Crouch, with his length, but also the earlier mentioned Defoe and Kranjcar. In defence Sylvain Distin and Johnson will be important against Keane/Kuyt and Babel/Benayoun (some of them will start I reckon…).

My Man:

I will watch Ryan Babel a bit extra if he gets a start today, otherwise Daniel Agger’s display against Crouchie/Defoe.

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Hello,

two things today, first Felipe Scolari’s spontaneous view of the game, and secondly some pre-match talk: Liverpool-Portsmouth.

 After Liverpool’s, to many, surprising win on Stamford Bridge, Sunday afternoon, a lot of people have raised their eyebrows – could this be Liverpool’s year? Well, that question I will not answer just yet, and maybe if you truly hink about it I do not have to speculate? I certainly think of of Liverpool’s worst competators in all their competitions, Chelsea, are very worried. Scolari, who has got the name “Big Phil” in Britain, admitted he did not expect to lose:

“We did not expect the result, but we need to understand that Liverpool have a very good team.”

He also said that Liverpool fancied their chances and played very good defensively:

“They didn’t play better than us but they took their chance. In the first half we dominated the game and in the second we had more possession of the ball and passed it well until we got near their penalty area. After this we crossed many balls but they had a good defensive line and dealt with every one. We didn’t play as we have done in other games because we didn’t have the space.”

We can sense a trace of disappointment in his words – but to be honest, it could have been worse (Xabi Alonso’s freekick in the post!).

    VS

 Moving on, today there is, an unusual mid-week, game against Portsmouth. Have no squads just yet, but I will put something about it tomorrow!

Crouchie taking Defoe to new heights?

We will face former Red striker Peter Crouch I suppose, and he has done it really good in Pompeys, alongside Jermain Defoe. Crouch has scored four goals, and is one goal behind Defoe. Defoe was talking even before Crouch was sold to Portsmouth about how much he would enjoy Crouch at his side, and he was probably right that this was a good companionship. Just like the relationship Emile Heskey-Amr Zaki in Wigan Crouch-Defoe use flicks and a close range playstyle with each other resulting in a number of assists to them both.

New Pompey manager!

Last game for Pompeys ended a draw, against Fulham, since the American Clint Dempsey had equalised Crouch’s 61-minute goal in the 87th minute. But note that it was not Harry Redknapp that coached them, and he will not against us since he has agreed to succeed Juande Ramos as manager for Tottenham (currently last in the Premiership, two points after Stoke City and three points behind Bolton!). Instead, the old Arsenal centre back and captain Tony Adams has taken over, and will manage his team against Liverpool tomorrow night at 20.00 GMT.

 Quoting from my yesterday’s post: “trends exist only to be broken.”

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 Chelsea have had a really good start on the season. The new manager, Filipo “Big Phil” Scolari had brought some fresh blood into the squad as he signed Deco from Barcelona, and José Bosingwa from Porto. Especially Deco has shown a great deal of skill, scoring two goals so far in the Premier League, both very beautiful. The £8 million signing has also brought a new dimension to Chelsea’s passing, which has, in its turn, started for example Joe Cole going. Unlycky for them though, they had to encounter Liverpool sooner or later…

 And yes, Liverpool have also got a lovely start to the season. Not a single loss in any game, and with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard getting soem unburdened shoulder as Dirk Kuyt has started to score again. New signing Albert Riera has positively surprised most of us Reds, and Alvaro Arbeloa has finally taken the right-back position to 100%. Manchester United have been beaten, for the first time in a long, long period, and next up was Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge where they had not lost for four and a half years, or 86 games.

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The starting team line ups:

Chelsea FC: Cech; Bosingwa, A Cole, Carvalho, Terry;  Lampard, Obi Mikel, Deco; Kalou, Malouda, Anelka.

Liverpool FC: Reina; Arbeloa, Aurelio, Carragher, Agger; Alonso, Mascherano; Kuyt, Riera, Gerrard; Keane.

Liverpool started off well when Xabi Alonso, in the 10th minute, made i 1-0 to Liverpool. Alvaro Arbeloa had taken a throw-in on the right side which was flicked by Dirk Kuyt, who won a header in Chelsea’s penalty area, which in its turn was ‘cleared’ by John Terry on which Xabi Alonso struck it half-volley. However, it took a deflectionon José Bosingwa, which completely got Petr Cech in the wrong direction, before it went in, to our great pleasure!

Surprising that we actually grabbed the lead. I mean, I think before we played 1-1 here last season we had not even scored a goal here, and now we scored an early leader! Could this possibly be the start of something new?

However, after the goal, Liverpool’s play got more and more pushed back by Chelsea, and in the end of the first half I can honestly say that I was pleased that it was half-time. Scolari though I would say was not pleased at all! His side was the team that had scored the most goal and condeded the fewest in the Premiership so far, and now they were under 0-1 – at home.

Not very satisfied…

Second half started with some Liverpool pressure against Chelsea’s side of the pitch, but no real scoring chance popped up. Liverpool kept stable defensively, and took not too risky chances up front and Chelsea got more and more frustrated (could tell by Terry’s elbow on Reina and Cole’s unneccessary kick on Carragher) which suits Liverpool perfect. The sublime displays of Alonso and Mascherano on the defensive central midfield continued, and with some luck Alonso could have scored a second as his 25-metre freekick went off the post.

Except some through balls from Chelsea’s midfield players, and an offside chance involving Ahsley Cole no more Blue action caused real trouble for José Reina in goal. As Chelsea became more and more incompetent to attack, and Liverpool’s hardworking defensive side tightened things up a stalemate followed, and stuck to it for the rest of the game. In a match that, if to the logics, should have been 0-0, Liverpool went out victorious and it is this kind of matches and this kind of points we need if we are to win the league title again! Today’s display is one step, and hopefully we can take another, and another, successively until we reach the ultimate top.

Gerrard VS Lampard – the perpetuous duel.

Steven Gerrard did some good defensive work, but had a harder time offensively. Alonso had some good passing, as usual, but just as Gerrard he never really cut the Chelsea defence open. Javier Mascherano had a great time against the likes of John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, and Deco on the central midfield, mainly defensively, but he also had some decent runs with the ball as well. Was maybe a bit too hot, as he got a yellow card for quarrelling with the referee. Second time he does that, and I am not a fan of it, honestly I see it as very immature, and I very much hope Rafa does something about it. In defence, Daniel Agger showed a really good display, and Jamie Carragher was as stable as ever. Arbeloa was also good, and dared some offensive runs as well, even with us having only a 1-0 lead. Fabio Aurelio on the left flank was not as good as the other, he did some naïve mistakes, but I guess Andrea Dossena would not have done it better…

Robbie Keane had a tough day against Terry and Carvalho as lone forward up front, and he got really tired as he ran and ran and ran. He was substituted after an hour’s running in no-man’s-land. On the wings Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera got little to work with, Liverpool’s play mainly went centrally through either Gerrard or Alonso, and only in the build-up the wings were used to a wider extent, but very few crosses from the byline were made (as usual when Kuyt is playing on one of the flanks, since he is not a natural winger). Riera was really good I think, he had some nice dribbles and so, but I would like to see more crosses into the box from him (maybe not in particularly this game, with only Keane against Terry/Carvalho in the air, but maybe when Fernando Torres is back, or when Dirk Kuyt plays in the box).

Put up a couple of Skysports post-match interviews here:

1. Jamie Carragher

2. Rafael Benítez

To conclude, I would just like to say that we are closing in on the real top now, we are leading the Premiership at 23 points, having Chelsea and Hull behind us at 20 points, and Arsenal at 19. I enjoy this victory, but, as Rafa says, I might just have enjoyed the Manchester United win a little bit more (and then we played better as well), but a great win!

Warning about arrogancy though, not that the players or Rafa need to be warned – but us fans. Please, do not take the title for granted just because we have shown a good run lately. Remember that we have to focus on the Champions League as well, and aroung winter and spring there will be really hard to keep up and exhibit great performances in both competitions. And now, do not come and whine about getting a new coach if we start to lagg, because now I have warned you that it might happen (I do not say it will - but it sure do can).

¡Hola! ¿Què tal? (Spanish: Hi! How are you?)

Private picture, taken during my London visit this summer (where I actually saw Didier Drogba, Ahsley Cole, Alex, and Michael Essien during training session – was not all that impressed…).

Chelsea on Sunday 1.30 PM GMT, Stamford Bridge. We have had some bad results there in the last meetings, actually we have not grabbed a win since Rafael Benítez entered the throne. Liverpool’s recent run, or the season’s run so far, has promised a lot! I do not know whether it will continue or not, but it sure do feels like a renaissance, a kind of re-birth with a good start (long time since last time one of those walked Liverpool’s way).

Also a private picture, in the tunnel to enter the arena.

I honestly think we have the chance to win this time. Yes, it has been said before, but this is our best start since God knows when. Fernando Torres has been, to some part at least, unburdened now this season, with Dirk Kuyt scoring some very important goals. Having new guy Albert Riera making a fresh start of his Anfield carrer, I think we have a great chance. But, adding to it, is the fact that Chelsea have not lost a single game at home in the League for more than four and a half years, which is kind of a troubling point. But, a bigger BUT, is that trends exist only to be broken.

Dailymail has announced the preliminary troops as following:

Chelsea: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Ferreira, Bridge, A Cole, Mikel, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Carvalho, Lampard, Sinclair, Mancienne, Belletti, Anelka, Malouda, Stoch, Kalou, Deco, Bosingwa. Note that Ashley Cole is a bit unsure, due to a hamstring injury that has kept him out of two Premier League games so far. Already set to miss the game are Didier Drogba (knee injury), Michael Essien (also knee), Joe Cole (foot injury), and Michael Ballack (foot, he as well). Really glad to see that Drogba does not play, if there is one player I do not like it is him. Not that he is poorly skilled, but he is a diver, even though he is a giant and has tons of muscles (saw him jog past my training session in England, had a language course/football camp there, and he was really big!)… No, this time maybe football players participate instead.

The two ultimate contrasts: Carra VS Drogba.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Hyypiä, Dossena, Aurelio, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Kuyt, Keane, Pennant, Riera, Lucas, N’Gog, Cavalieri. Seems like Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, and Xabi Alonso will play in spite of their walk-outs from the game mid-week against Club Atletico de Madrid. We will see whether they are going to London or not, but I think so, and very much hope so. Still do not like Rafa’s decision to play them all against Atletico, unnecessary!

Different lot this time, thank God (no John-Arne Riise…).

 Chelsea’s new coach Filipo Scolari is one of the world’s better coaches, and his reputation is not unearned to be honest. He has lead some of the best national teams, including Brazil and Portugal, and now he embarks to manage what neither José Mourinho nor Avram Grant managed to do – win the Champions League (lovely that Rafa has done it!). I think we might just be able to shake the ground on Sunday. I mean, even if it is away, we are still The Red Army.

To sum up, we know we have had a great start, with several superb comebacks. The victory against Manchester United was one step in the right direction for, and the next one to be so is to break Chelsea’s home record of successive games without loss.