Friedel snubs Reds for Spurs

Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel has agreed to join Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur on a two-year contract.

The experienced American had been considering his future over the past few weeks with a host of clubs from both the Premier League and abroad chasing his signature.

Once the 40-year-old had opted not to move back to the continent, where he previously played for Turkish giants Galatasaray, that left him with four options in England.

His current club Villa were keen for him to extend his three-year stint, having played over 100 Premier League games for the club following his switch from Blackburn.

One of his former clubs Liverpool also made him an offer, whilst West Bromwich Albion also offered him the chance to stay in the Midlands.

But, after mulling over his options, Friedel has now opted to accept Harry Redknapp's offer of a move to White Hart Lane.

The signing of Friedel is likely to place question marks over the future of Heurelho Gomes, but Redknapp insists he wants the Brazilian to stay at the club.

Redknapp told the club's official website: "Brad is a top goalkeeper of real quality who has great experience.

"It is good to have three such experienced top goalkeepers at the club in Gomes, Carlo (Cudicini) and now Brad, and it means we have competition for places particularly with the number of games we will hopefully face next year both domestically and in Europe as well."

Friedel's agent Tony McGill emphasised what a tough decision it was for the keeper to leave Villa.

"Yes, I can confirm Brad has chosen Spurs, but it was a very difficult decision to leave Villa," McGill told skysports.com.

"Brad has really enjoyed his time there, the fans and staff have been exceptional, especially Paul Faulkner [Villa chief executive], and I know Brad will wish Villa nothing but success.

"But Brad felt the time was right to move on, and he has not been short of offers. The last 48 hours have been hectic.

"Brad is now looking forward to moving to Tottenham and pushing for a starting place and helping them back into the top four next season."

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Source: LiverpoolFC.tv and Sky Sports

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Will Liverpool Get Back Into The Champions League Next Year?

Everyone knows that Liverpool have not had a great couple of years, but since the return of Kenny Dalglish, the sale of Fernando Torres and the signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll that all took place in January, there has been a really positive change at the club and fans will be optimistic for what the future holds now.
You can tell the way that those wearing Liverpool football shirts are expressing themselves on the park is in a much more liberal manner, giving them more freedom to play to the best of their ability. There is still a long way to go before the team can be considered as a top four team, but depending on their signings this summer, it could be a possibility.
Liverpool have a core of key players that need to be kept for them to progress next year, including; Raul Meireles, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Andy Carroll and Pepe Reina. The club have been rumoured to be looking for a new left back and Newcastle’s Jose Enrique has apparently been targeted.
Liverpool should and will be looking to improve on the wings this summer and many feel that King Kenny will sign two wingers in order to make the club more of an attacking force. Ashley Young and Stewart Downing have been rumoured as potential targets for these positions.
Given the way that Liverpool played in the 2^nd half of the 2010-11 season, it shows that they do have plenty of talent and desire to improve their league position next season. The Champions League for 2012-13 could be a realistic possibility for the club, although they will have to finish above at least two of teams with the pedigree of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.
It is now exciting again to be a Liverpool fan and there will be a huge expectation for Kenny Dalglish to get the club back into a position they feel they are worthy of and only time will tell if that is indeed the case.
Written by Eddie Smith, a sports writer who also likes to blog about 2011/12 football kits.

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Video Prank by Liverpool Fans – Banner outside Fergie’s driveway

While Sir Alex was sleeping, a banner which mentions Liverpool’s 5 and Barcelona’s 4 European Cup wins was erected in his driveway.

Following Manchester United’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final on Saturday, Liverpool fans were quick to rub it in by leaving a banner outside the home of Sir Alex Ferguson which read “Champions 2011 – 4 times (Barcelona), Champions 2005 – 5 times (Liverpool). Loved it!

Source: vozmediacouk and Empire of the Kop

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Liverpool Sign Record Deal with Warrior Sports – How will the jerseys look like?

The Daily Mail has reported that Liverpool have agreed a £25 million-a-year kit deal with Boston-based company Warrior Sports in April. The deal is a record for English football surpassing Manchester United’s £23.5 million-a-year Nike deal.

The £25 million-a-year kit deal is twice as much as what Liverpool were getting from Adidas, my biggest concern is whether Warrior Sports can create a professional and aesthetically pleasing soccer kit. The first new Liverpool kit designed and manufactured by Warrior Sports will debut in the 2012-13 season, so they will have plenty of time to perfect the design.

Who are Warrior Sports?

Headquartered in Warren, Michigan, Warrior Sports is recognized as one of the sporting goods industry’s premier manufacturers of innovative, high performance, cutting-edge equipment, footwear and apparel for lacrosse and hockey athletes of all ages and abilities. Founded in 1992 by former champion lacrosse player David Morrow, Warrior was acquired by privately-held New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. in February 2004. The 2007 acquisition of Boston-based Brine Sporting Goods further established Warrior Sports as the dominant force in the lacrosse world.

Warrior is dedicated to a core set of philosophies and strengths: technical superiority, grassroots marketing, original and creative youthful expression, and strong partnerships with retailers and suppliers. Since creating the first titanium shafts in 1992, Warrior has constantly pushed the envelope in the evolution of the game. By taking a fresh, energetic approach to the game, and employing young, enthusiastic lacrosse players like Jesse Hubbard and Mark Millon, Warrior set out to change the game – the best gear in the world,developed by the best players in the World.

The record deal with Liverpool sees the company entering the football world seeing it specializes in the lacrosse sporting equipment and apparel.

Until then, take a look at the future Liverpool FC kits from Warrior Sports.

Let us know what do you think of the new kits design on the comment box below.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Source: WakeFieldReds

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Sevilla winger on Liverpool radar

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish had hoped to land Aston Villa winger Young to supply chances for Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez next season, but the England international is believed to have expressed a preference for a move to Old Trafford.

Promising winger Diego Perotti has attracted the interest of Premier League side Liverpool with his good performances for Sevilla in the 2010-11 campaign.

The Reds are apparently willing to pay £7 million to secure the 22-year-old signature, but face competition from Juventus.

Sevilla are hoping a bidding war will develop and that they can push the price for the Argentina international up to £8.5 million.

The Italian giants’ involvement in the transfer is an interesting twist, considering Liverpool is already in a tug of war style talk with Juventus over the movement of on loan Alberto Aquilani.

Should the Italians snare Perotti from Liverpool, Dalglish may be a lot less willing to negotiate a lower price than the €16 million set for Aquilani’s permanent release.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Source: NESN

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Liverpool lost the race for England winger

Manchester United are convinced they have seen off competition from Liverpool to wrap up the signing of Ashley Young from Aston Villa for £15million in the next few weeks.

Sportsmail revealed last month how Liverpool were closing in on the England winger but feared United would scupper their plans.

Those misgivings have now been realised, with the champions putting the finishing touches to a deal despite Manchester City also showing late interest.

United have signed goalkeeper David de Gea from Atletico Madrid, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail in March, and are keen on Inter Milan and Holland midfielder Wesley Sneijder and Newcastle left back Jose Enrique.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv, Daily Mail

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Liverpool set to sign £25M Portuguese star

According to reports in Correio da Manha, Liverpool have agreed a fee of £25million for Benfica left back Fabio Coentrao.

Kenny Dalglish is set to move for the 23-year old full back who has been linked with a string of high profile clubs across Europe, including Premiership rivals Chelsea and Man City.

Liverpool has made a left back their top priority in the summer and have been linked with Everton's Leighton Baines, Arsenal's Gael Clichy and Newcastle's Jose Enrique.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv, Football Talk.co.uk

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Match report: Aston Villa v Liverpool

The final game of a rollercoaster of a season for Liverpool away to Aston Villa and still in with a chance of qualifying for Europe. But after last weeks defeat against Spurs it meant that Liverpool would have to better Tottenham's result against Birmingham. So Liverpool would be looking to end the season on a high with a victory. Aston Villa have been on a decent run of form lately taking them clear of the drop zone which threatened them not so long ago. Unfortunately Liverpool's old manager Gerard Houllier would not be leading out Villa as he is still recovering from his health scare, but former Liverpool player Gary McAllister would deputise for him.

THE TEAM
Dalglish had to make three changes for this match with Maxi, Carroll and Johnson all struggling with injuries, so Kenny brought Cole, Aurelio and fit again Meireles back into the side and hope for a good away win to finish the season.

THE MATCH
Liverpool were supported with a very vocal support and they showed great respect to their former favourites Gerrard Houllier and Gary McAllister by chanting their names. They also were buoyed with the fact that Liverpool captain Gerrard was amongst them in the away end.

Liverpool started well but were dealt a blow when Spearing failed to recover from a bad challenge by Reo-Coker, Shelvey replaced the midfielder. Liverpool went close on the 15 minute mark when Lucas had a volley cleared off the line by Ashley Young.

Then Lucas played a ball through to Suarez but Friedal was alert to the danger. The game became littered with fouls and the game lacked cohesion. Then Carragher suffered a nasty gash on his forehead and had to leave the field to get stitched up leaving Liverpool with 10 men on the park.

Carragher was back on the park when Villa took the lead on 33 minutes when an Albrighton cross found Downing at the back post who smashed a volley past Reina from close range via the underside of the crossbar.

Villa were buoyed by this goal and had a good spell but Liverpool almost equalised when Aurelio whipped in a free-kick which Skrtel narrowly missed. So Liverpool went in at the half a goal down and with plenty to think about.

Liverpool tried get back into the game and started the second half well with Joe Cole miscuing a volley. Meireles should have scored after great work from Suarez but his side foot effort was saved on the line by a combination of Friedal and Dunne.

Liverpool were the dominant side now and most of the chances were theirs. Meireles looked to pass across the face of goal but Reo-Coker saved the day with a last ditch block. Then Aurelio fired a free-kick just wide of the post.

With time running out Meireles' low cross found Suarez in the box but he shot over and Liverpool's season ended in defeat and the prospect of no European football next season.

SUMMARY
I thought Liverpool were quite unlucky to lose the game as they did have chances to score. Unlucky to lose Spearing so early in the game and the early part of the game was very stop start with a lot of fouls. The Villa goal should not have been allowed as Carragher was clearly fouled when going up for a header, the ball ending up with Downing who finished brilliantly. Reina didn't have a lot to do in the game either as Liverpool had most of the play. Liverpool should have had a penalty as well when Dunne handled Meireles' effort in the second half. Disappointing to lose the game and to miss out on Europe but it might work out well for us so we can concentrate on the League next season. So bring on the new season.

Man of the Match - Suarez- never stopped running and trying to create, brilliant play to tee up Meireles in the second half. A constant threat.

YNWA

Written by Jamie McLaughlin, who blog at http://theliverword.blogspot.com/

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