Rumour Mill: Blackpool keen on Liverpool defender

Blackpool want to loan another Liverpool youngster in the form of Danny Wilson, according to The Daily Mail.

Manager Ian Holloway has already brought in midfielder Jonjo Shelvey from Anfield in a similar deal and signed Gerardo Bruna and Thomas Ince from Liverpool over the summer.

The former Rangers defender has barely figured for Liverpool since moving to Anfield in 2010 and only has one appearance to his name this campaign.

Lack of game time saw the youngster dropped from the senior Scotland squad for this month's crunch Euro 2012 qualifiers and he is determined to get things back on track.

Scotland international Wilson, 19, is also being chased by Leeds and Nottingham Forest.

Now, manager Ian Holloway is keen on defender Wilson and Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish will be more than happy to see his fellow Scot pick up some playing time at Bloomfield Road.

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

Source: The Daily Mail

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Liverpool lining up January bid for City midfielder

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Adam Johnson for quite some time but it would appear that the chances of snapping up the England international have lessened given that the right winger has seen his side become genuine contenders for major honours this term.

However the former Middlesbrough man is still struggling to get regular first team football. Last term the 24 year old started 15 Premier League games whilst making another 16 appearances from the bench and this season has made three top tier starts and managed just 14 minutes of Champions League football.

Given that Roberto Mancini has a plethora of wide options, including David Silva, Samir Nasri, Mario Balotelli and James Milner to name just four top internationals, the Italian would probably not stand in the way of Adam Johnson if he pushed for to leave the club.

However Johnson may feel he has the ability to beat off competition to become a regular at Man City but clearly if Liverpool were to show their return to form by pushing for a top four spot themselves, then perhaps the intelligent winger would consider a move to Anfield.

Liverpool have brought in a number of midfield additions over the summer, with Stewart Downing, Johnson’s former team-mate at the Riverside, making the left side role his own. Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam were brought in to add more options for Kenny Dalglish who then lost Raul Meireles to Chelsea and then loaned out Alberto Aquilani to AC Milan.

The right hand side of his midfield is now being primarily taken by Henderson but the England Under 21 international is also very effective in the centre of the park. Dirk Kuyt has found himself pushed out of the first team and the Dutchman may well be considering his future.

Johnson would cost Liverpool at least £15million and clearly Man City have no financial need to sell the player so a lot would depend on the player’s intentions to fight to prove himself to Mancini, knowing that regular first team football may be needed in order to maintain his spot in Fabio Capello’s England plans ahead of the Euro 2012 finals next summer.

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

Source: FootyBunker, CaughtOffside

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Get off Jamie ‘The Stalwart’ Carragher’s back

Football fans and critics have a very short memory. Opinions that stem out of this memory also lack rationality and border baseless criticism.

Since the last three years,Jamie has been getting a lot of stick for his lack of defending. As a Liverpool fan, my reflex is to defend one of the greatest players to have ever played for the club. But it’s not only about the bias.

Every defender has a bad game. Footballers go through lean spells but world-class footballers put in that one performance that silences their critics. And Jamie did just that in the Merseyside derby.

Jamie Carragher undoubtedly has lost some pace but his astute reading of the game has not deteriorated one bit. On a sunny, pressure-packed afternoon, Jamie Carragher stamped his class at Goodison Park. Tim Cahill has an effective aerial prowess and scores headers with ease in the league. Carragher won almost every aerial ball against Cahill. Everton were a depleted side after the sending-off but it’s always harder playing against 10 men and Carragher effectively killed off, the unpredictable Luis Saha’s game with his incisive tackling. He did not put a single foot wrong.

Carragher’s verbose organizing skills often go unsung. You rarely see a mix-up between the goalkeeper and the defence. Carragher plays every game with his heart on his sleeve and is still one of the first names on that team sheet.

Within the England setup, Jamie Carragher is under-rated. He is no less than John Terry and as effective as Rio Ferdinand (if not better). In my opinion, he did not get enough games to prove his mettle. This fact being emphasized by Fabio Capello persuading him to come out of retirement. What has instigated me is the fact that even Liverpool fans have been questioning his abilities. His last-ditch tackles have saved countless games for Liverpool.

Lets rewind Liverpool fans , If Jamie Carragher can out-wit and out-fight Andriy Shevchenko in a European Final with a strained muscle, he deserves more than ‘Carra’s getting old’. He has been found wanting in a lot of games, he drops too deep,he doesn’t get forward too often, doesn’t score too many goals but he had Fernando Torres in his pocket at Stamford Bridge , the same Fernando Torres who walked all over Nemanja Vidic (arguably, the best defender in the league) at Old Trafford.

Do not write him off yet.

Jamie Carragher can defend, just ask Rigobert Song and the AC Milan squad of 2005/2006.

Written by Mayank Adhye, who blogs at The Musical Escapade and also a Reds supporter.

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Rumour Mill: Liverpool targets US whiz kid

Skysports.com understands a host of Premier League clubs are tracking American hot-shot Brek Shea.

The FC Dallas ace is regarded as one of the best young talents in America and is already an established member of Jurgen Klinsmann's USA side.

The likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have all been credited with an interest in the attacker who can play out wide or up front.

Liverpool and Manchester City are both believed to have watched Shea in action over the weekend as he created the only goal in the USA's 1-0 win over Honduras.

Shea's representative, Barry MacLean, admits a number of teams are interested in the attacker and that the American starlet would be interested in a move to England in the future.

"I do know people are asking me about Brek as he is the premier talent in America," MacLean told skysports.com.

"There is a real buzz around Brek as he is a real quality player.

"He has a contract with the MLS and FC Dallas for another three years so at this point it is premature to talk about a move."

Asked if Shea would be interested in a move to the Premier League, MacLean said: "It's on his radar. He is a young player with high aspirations and every player wants to play at the highest level.

"I think England would be an interesting option for Brek, but we will wait and see what happens."

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

Source: Sky Sports

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Liverpool defender pondering life away from Anfield

Teenager hungry for action after falling out of favour on Merseyside. Out-of-favour Liverpool youngster Danny Wilson is open to spending time out on loan if it means playing regular first-team football.

The 19-year-old defender notched up eight appearances for the Reds in all competitions after making his debut in the Carling Cup last September.

But action has been limited so far this term, with former Rangersman Wilsonhaving made just one outing back in August.

Lack of game time saw the youngster dropped from the senior Scotland squad for this month's crunch Euro 2012 qualifiers and he is determined to get things back on track.

"There's nothing worse than not being able to go out on the pitch on a Saturday and play," Wilson told Sky Sports News.

"But I need to just keep my head down and hopefully I'll either get some game time at Liverpool or get the chance to go somewhere else and try and prove myself."

Liverpool's fortunes have turned around drastically over the past 12 months and they currently sit fifth in the Premier League, marking them as possible contenders for a UEFA Champions League spot.

But Wilson insists they are not getting ahead of themselves, adding: "It just depends how the next couple of months go.

"You can be realistic, you can change your aims and where you want to be, but obviously the higher we finish the better.

"We want to get back in the Champions League, obviously, but first and foremost we need to make sure we're in a good position to do that."

While Wilson is not involved in Scotland's final qualifier in Spain on Tuesday night, he believes Craig Levein's men have every chance of causing an upset to clinch the final play-off spot in Group I.

"We beat France twice a couple of years ago and nobody gave us a chance of doing that," he said.

"Spain, being European and world champions, means it's a big, big ask of the players. But I feel if we go out and we can implement what we want to do on the park then I think Scotland have got a great chance."

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

Source: Sky Sports

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Liverpool goalkeeper almost joins the Gunners

The Liverpool FC Spanish goalkeeper adores the city, he is proud that his children speak with a Scouse accent – and he believes that he represents one of the greatest clubs in world football.

But in his searingly honest autobiography, published this week, Reina also admits that three times he came close to leaving all that behind.

“I have been through three dark nights of the soul at Liverpool and on all three occasions I have questioned whether I should stay at the club that I have come to love,” he declares.

“On each occasion I could have walked away.

“I had opportunities to continue my career elsewhere, but I never took that final, decisive step that would have severed my ties with Liverpool forever. Thankfully.”

The first occasion, in 2006, came as a personal crisis of confidence.

Doubts that had festered after an unconvincing FA Cup final appearance, were magnified by an error in the Reds first home league game and reached crisis proportions in the Goodison derby match.

“Everyone – especially the Evertonians – remembers the day we lost the Merseyside derby 3-0 at Goodison Park on September 9, 2006,” he explains.

“The moment that stands out the most for me was when Andy Johnson scored Everton’s third. It all started when Lee Carsley had a shot from outside the area in the 94th minute. I parried it away, but as the ball went into the air, it headed back towards the goal. I turned to get it but in a split second opted to try and catch it, realising too late that I would carry it over the line. I tried to push it over the bar but could only direct it into the path of Johnson, who had an easy task to head it into the roof of the net.

“When things like that happen you feel like you have let everyone down, especially when it happens against your local rivals in a game that the supporters are desperate to win. But that wasn’t even the worst of it for me because that mistake wasn’t a one-off. If anything, it summed up my form as I struggled to get out of one of the most testing slumps of my career.”

It was manager Rafael Benitez who talked Reina round.

“Like every other player when things go wrong you need the help of the people around you and in this case it was the support of Rafa Benitez that made the biggest difference,” he said. “He gave me such strong backing at the time, and showed he believed in me.

“I knew that Valencia were there and their interest was in the back of my mind. Rafa changed everything and put all those fears to rest. He made me forget about the possibility of leaving Liverpool before I had even proved myself here. With the help of the boss and Jose Ochotorena, the goalkeeping coach, I came through it.

“From the middle of January to the beginning of May 2007, we conceded only 12 goals and managed 11 clean sheets – including one against Everton in the return league fixture at Anfield.

“I had been strong enough to cope with a difficult situation with their support, and I ended up having a good season.”

Read more: Liverpool Echo

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

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Rumour Mill: Liverpool tracking Dutch striker

Liverpool FC has earmarked a future move to sign Dutch international striker Luuk de Jong after a series of scouting missions. The 21-year-old has been a consistent performer for FC Twente and his displays have earned him a series of international call ups and a growing list of prospective suitors.

The powerfully built striker helped his side to a Dutch Eredivisie title in his first season at the club and this term he has matured into a more effective attacking weapon, notching up six goals in eight matches. The 6ft 2in Swiss born forward has been linked with interest from several clubs across Europe and is seen as a prospect with a bright future.

Though Liverpool have a formidable first choice strike pairing in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll they do lack strength in depth in this department, especially after the sale of David N’Gog to Bolton. Kenny Dalglish brought in a short term solution to this problem by signing 32-year-old Craig Bellamy.

De Jong is valued at around £10million and clearly having spent upwards of £100million in 2011 on new additions, such a price tag will not cause any problems for the Merseyside outfit. The young FC Twente man will no doubt be tempted by a high profile move where he would link up with his international colleague Dirk Kuyt.

If Liverpool is to follows suit with a bid in January transfer window, we will not be surprised that Daniel Pacheco’s future at Anfield has been numbered. Pacheco currently on a season long loan to Atletico Madrid.

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

Source: CaughtOffside

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Liverpool takes on Glasgow Rangers on a friendly match

Liverpool will head to Glasgow in a midweek friendly later this month to take part in a friendly game against Rangers.

The game will take place on the 18th October at 7.30pm UK time. Charlie Adam and Danny Wilson are the two Reds who played for Rangers.

   “They are a fantastic club and their squad is packed with world class players so I have no doubt this game will capture the imagination of our supporters.

“We look forward to welcoming Charlie Adam and Danny Wilson back to Ibrox and I am sure the fans will turn out in huge numbers once again to watch us in action against such a high-profile English Premiership side.” - Rangers boss Ally McCoist

The two teams last met in a pre-season friendly in August 2008, with Liverpool running out 4-0 winners in Scotland. Liverpool have been allocated 3,500 tickets for this fixture.

Source: Liverpool FC Official

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