off season
I managed to get to most of this summer's friendly matches. Paris, Eindhoven, Monaco and a few here in town. The reserves hosted Celtic reserves and played a match just across the river Mersey against Tranmere.
The first team looks sharp:
-------- Aurelio ----- Riera ------------>
---------------- Alonso ----------------->
------- Agger ----------------- Torres -->
Reina --------- Mascherano -------------->
------- Carra ------------ Gerrard ------>
----------------------------------------->
-------- Arbeloa -------- Kuyt ---------->
This was the prevalent formation. N'gog, Németh, El Zhar and Leto all got run-outs and they looked pretty good. Hopefully they can make an impact this year. Dossena and Degen were left at home to make room for some of the youngsters. Those two will probably be out by the end of the transfer window.
Kuyt looked good on the right, but it would be nice to have a natural winger or wingback out there. It would have been nice if Pennant had applied himself and reached his potential, hopefully it doesn't go to waste at Portsmouth like it did here.
Torres scored 3 in 5 as one would expect, but he was blanked in Paris and Monaco. There's some African kids there who just stuck to him like glue; full of enthusiasm and raw talent. I've heard rumours of us getting the signatures of one or both of them. Nicolas N'Koulou and Mamadou Sakho were their names. I'm hearing a lot about new players from out-of-the-ordinary places.
I found this on the club website, explaining some new direction of the club's scouting aims.
Quote:
Chief Scout Eduardo Macia speaking with liverpoolfc.tv:
... We've been really trying to expand our search for talent. South America and Western Europe are full of talent, no doubt, but we feel that there are untapped talent pools elsewhere, particularly Eastern Europe, West Africa and Scandinavia. These are the places where you can find some of the most talented and ambitious players in the world.
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Looks promising, I just hope the local lads don't get crowded out. It's great to produce world class talent out of the reserves, but bringing through the English lads is where the club's heart and soul lies. Won't be long before we'll need a replacement Carra or Stevie G. Here's the team I saw against Tranmere:
-------- Insua --------- Putterill ------------>
----------------------------------------------->
------- Antwi ----------------- Pacheco ------->
Hansen --------- Plessis -------- Ecclestone -->
------- San Jose -------- Spearing ------------>
----------------------------------------------->
-------- Darby -------- Anderson -------------->
Pacheco's a keeper and will definitely make an impact in the coming years. And Plessis and Insua are ready to make the step up as soon as they're needed.
Three days now till the start of the season. I'll be heading down to Craven Cottage.
Until then...