Sigh, Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has turned in an official transfer request in hopes of joining Real Madrid this summer. It will cost Real about 30 million pounds to sign Alonso. Real already signed Reds defender Alvaro Albeloa to a five-year deal earlier this week.
I still maintain that if Liverpool wants to win the league title, Alonso needs to stay. Unfortunately, that is looking less and less likely.
When the United States plays Mexico, it’s generally a very close, intense game. Well, today’s Gold Cup final was close and intense…for the first half anyways. It was tied 0-0 at half since both teams had missed a couple solid opportunities. The second half, however, was a completely different story. It was evenly matched to start the half, but Mexico opened the flood gates in the 57th minute, converting a dubious penalty. Mexico scored FOUR more goals over the course of the last 30 minutes to beat the U.S. 5-0. Yes, you read that right, Mexico scored five goals against the U.S. It was a beat down to say the least.
The win will surely give Mexico loads more confidence going into the World Cup Qualifier against the U.S. in August. The U.S., on the other hand, will need to use the humiliating loss as motivation against the hosts (where the U.S. has never won).
I didn’t see the game – all I know is that the US beat Honduras 3-0. It’s the squad’s third victory over Honduras since June. The Americans will now take Mexico on Sunday, July 26 in the Gold Cup final. There’s oh-so-much love between those teams. It should be a great game. The final will be televised live by Fox Soccer Channel beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
To read a recap of the US/Honduras semi-final, click here.
And every Liverpool fan in the world breathes a sigh of relief. The skipper was found not guilty of affray after he supposedly beat up some guy at a club after a 5-1 win over Newcastle in December of 2008. Well, one of my worries for the upcoming season (see: previous post) has been alleviated.
In other somewhat legal news, David Beckham was fined $1,000 (whoa, big money) by MLS after confronting a fan in his first home game back in LA.
Maybe it’s just me, but I can kind of see Liverpool’s shot at an elusive Premier League title slowly crumbling. I know it’s early to be worried about the season, but EPL kick-off is less than a month away! The reasons for my worry…
1. Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano – Alonso wants to go to Real Madrid. Mascherano wants to go to Barcelona. There’s no deals yet, but there’s obviously a lot of time left in the transfer window for that to happen. If they both leave, Liverpool will have a heck of a time replacing them. They were crucial to Liverpool’s runner-up finish last season since they are excellent at controlling the midfield. Even if just one of them heads to Spain, it will leave a huge gap in the Reds midfield and they don’t currently have anyone that can excel in that role. I’m going to try not to dwell on this too much since as of right now, it’s all rumours.
2. Steven Gerrard is in court – He’s in court on charges of affray after a nightclub fight in December. There’s a possibility he could go to jail. I have absolutely no clue how likely that is, hopefully not very, but even so, the mere idea of losing Gerrard makes me want to cry.
3. The squad hasn’t won a preseason game yet – Again, I realize that it’s early in preseason, but it’s not exactly like Liverpool is playing top level sides. Combined with the above factors, it makes me slightly uneasy. However, it’s preseason and obviously it will be a different mindset for the squad once the regular season kicks off.
Now on a positive note, I do think that it was a smart move to sign defender Glen Johnson. The price was a little steep, but it’s a position Liverpool really needed to fortify. Not only is Johnson a solid defender, but he’s also a threat to attack.
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